Staff Reporter :
A total of 157 foreign prisoners are waiting for repatriation after serving conviction for various crimes in different jails across the country, according to a report submitted to the Attorney General’s office.
The report prepared by the prison authorities further said among the foreign prisoners 150 are from India, 5 from Myanmar and one each from Pakistan and Nepal. And among the 157 prisoners, 19 are women.
Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta said prison authorities sent the report to the Attorney General office on Thursday, January 18 in 2024 com
plying with an order of the HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque.
The report will be submitted to the HC bench very soon or on the next hearing date, March 10, said the state lawyer.
DAG Amit Das further said, “Although the sentences of the foreign accused have already been served, these people have to be repatriated to their countries in a process by contacting the concerned countries as they are citizens of other countries. It is not possible to release them until that process is completed.”
The foreign accusedhave been indicted under ‘The Control of Entry Act 1952’, ‘Passport Act 1952’ and ‘Narcotics Control Act’, said the report.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested Gobinda Uria, 26, a resident of Kamalpur of Tripura province in India, on January 19 in 2022 on charge of infiltration through Srimangal of Moulvibazar district. He was then handed over to the Srimangal Police Station on that day.
A Moulvibazar Court sentenced Gobinda Uria to jail for two months and 10 days. The verdict said Gobinda Uria has already served jail more than his sentence.
That is why the court asked the Jail Superintendent of Moulvibazar jail to take steps for the repatriation of Gobinda Uria.
However, Gobinda was not freed from jail even in last two years after the verdict. Recently a TV channel telecast a report regarding the issue.
Annexing the report a Supreme Court lawyer, Bivuti Tarofder, on January 11 filed a writ petition with the High Court.
Upon hearing the writ petition, the HC bench issued a rule regarding the issue and asked for a list of the foreign prisoners who have already served their sentences. It also asked to release Gobinda Uria from jail.