THE ACCUSED: Sheikh Amjad Ali

THE AGGRIEVED: Mahroon Nisa, Mohammed Amjad’s mother

In a cruel case of mistaken identity, Mohammed Amjad, 28, has spent 15 weeks in prison for a murder with which his only link is the middle name of the accused.

Sheikh Amjad Ali was accused of setting his wife ablaze in September 2001 and arrested, only to jump bail and go missing this year.

On August 24, Mohammed Amjad, an unmarried man, was arrested instead of Sheikh Amjad Ali and charged with burning his wife to death and jumping bail.

Mohammed Amjad, a resident of 21/3B/H/5 Mominpore Road, has since been languishing in Presidency jail while Sheikh Amjad Ali, a resident of nearby 3H/7 Ibrahim Road, has been on the run.

The case of mistaken identity was revealed in Alipore court on Wednesday when the accused’s relatives realised that the man in the dock was not Sheikh Amjad Ali.

In a desperate scramble, the police cleared the decks for the release of the wrong Amjad with the investigating officer in the case admitting in Alipore court on Thursday that the arrested was actually not the accused.

Jayanta Das, the officer-in-charge of Ekbalpore police station, said: “We will officially submit the case of mistaken identity to the court and he will be released soon. We did not have any mala fide intention; it was just a slip-up.”

Try telling that to Mahroon Nisa, Mohammed Amjad’s mother. “They arrested my son and then slapped a murder charge on him. It is shocking that he has been behind bars for four months for a crime committed by someone else. Just because we are poor the cops feel they can get away with murder,” she said on Thursday.

According to an officer of Ekbalpore police station, Sheikh Amjad Ali, alias Nawab, had allegedly set his wife ablaze in September 2001. He was arrested immediately on the basis of complaints from his wife’s family.

“During the trial, he jumped bail and went missing. When the court issued an arrest warrant against him we arrested Mohammed Amjad by mistake,” said Das.

Sheikh Panchu, the father-in-law of Sheikh Amjad Ali, whose sons discovered that the man in the lock-up on Wednesday was not the accused, claimed that the fugitive was now in Hong Kong.

“An inquiry is on. We will take action against those found guilty,” said Vineet Goyal, the deputy commissioner (headquarters).