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Harassed for no offence

UP member implicated, proven innocent at last

M ABUL KALAM Azad, from Chittagong
Union parishad member Mariam Begum Badoni is loved and respected by the people of Boirag union in Chittagong for her ability to solve local issues amicably.
But months after the 10-trucks arms haul in 2004 at the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd jetty, barely a kilometre away from the widow's home at Uttar Bandar Kottapara village in the Karnaphuli precinct, her life almost turned up side down.
The UP member for 20 years was arrested, put behind bars for months, and made to go through mental and financial hurdles only to be acquitted of all charges after almost 10 longyears.
According to the charge sheet the lone woman accused in the 10-truck arms haul cases had provided workers for the offloading of arms and was present at the CUFL jetty during the unloading.
"About three months after the arms haul, the then investigation officer AKM Kabir Uddin came to my office. He told me to accompany him to the Detective Branch office and talk about the arms haul. I agreed without any hesitation," said Mariam sitting at her home yesterday afternoon.
The woman in her 50s said she had no clue that she had been implicated in the cases already and that her name was in the charge sheet.
"I was first taken to the Detective Branch office in Chittagong, from there to Kotwali Police Station. They kept me over night at Double Mooring Police Station," she told The Daily Star.
The next morning she was again taken to the DB office for more interrogation.
"You are my sister. Please tell us the story of arms smuggling. You can also say that they (smugglers] promised you Tk 2 lakh but you never got it," she quoted an interrogator as telling her.
She knew nothing. She was not even home on the night of April 1, 2004, when police captured the arms at CUFL jetty. She was at Mohsen Aulia shrine in the upazila and had heard about the seizure the following day on reaching home.
Mariam was sent to jail and she had to stay there for four and a half months before getting out on bail.
“I lost many things in the last 10 years. My elder son became mentality ill and my second daughter lost her husband," Mariam said, adding that visits to her lawyers and court appearances had become a regular thing for her.
“I can only blame my fate now," lamented the UP member who was re-elected twice despite being charged in the cases.
However, she is not the kind who dwells upon the past. Now she wants to forget everything and make a fresh start.