'They hanged me from ceiling fan and beat me,' says grenade attack case 'scapegoat’ Joj Mia

Md Jalal alias Joj Mia became a household name for all the wrong reasons - he was implicated in an incident he had nothing to do with. He was tagged ‘top terrorist’ and spent a long time in jail.

Liton Haider Chief Crimes Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Oct 2018, 09:40 PM
Updated : 10 Oct 2018, 05:29 PM

Joj Mia from a village in Noakhali’s Senbagh was made a ‘scapegoat’ in the investigation into the grenade attack targeting Sheikh Hasina on an Awami League rally in Dhaka around one and a half decades ago.

Once an accused in the cases over the attack, Joj Mia is the witness now.

bdnews24.com spoke to Joj Mia, now working as a driver at a hospital in Dhaka, on Oct 5 ahead of Wednesday’s verdict in the cases over the attack.

“I want maximum penalty for those who framed me and those who killed people in the grenade attack,” he said.

BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, now acting as the party chief from exile, and 37 other defendants face up to death penalty and 11 government officials maximum seven years in jail if the court finds them guilty of the charges under the Bangladesh Penal Code and the Explosives Act.

The first three investigation officers of the case -- CID special superintendent Ruhul Amin, and two ex-CID ASPs Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid – are also among the accused now.

The three investigation officers are accused of attempts to divert the investigation by showing Joj Mia as the attacker.

CID's assistant police superintendent Fazlul Kabir pressed charges against 22 people in June, 2008 -- during the caretaker government -- although the investigation made no progress during the BNP-Jamaat government.

After the Awami League came back to power in 2009, investigator Akanda filed a supplementary charge-sheet accusing 30 more including Tarique, and the three investigators.

Joj Mia recounted how his ‘confession’ was taken through torture after he was arrested on June 9, 2005.

Joj Mia, who ran a CD and poster business on the pavement in Dhaka’s Gulistan, was at home in Noakhali at the time of the attack and his arrest as well.

He said he had taken part in the Awami League’s protest programmes against the attack after seeing the news on TV.

He believes a local leader of the BNP selected him as the ‘scapegoat’ and handed him to the police.

Initially, he knew that he had been arrested on drugs offence charges, but later CID’s Rashid brought him to Dhaka and officials threatened him at the CID office to make a confession that he had carried out the grenade attack.

Investigators Rashid, Ruhul Amin and Atiqur pressed him for the confession, Joj Mia said.

He was remanded for around 30 days in phases. The officials initially wanted to know who were involved in the attack and later they started pushing him for the confession, he said.

“There were days when I was hanged from ceiling fan. They hit me on my toes,” said Joj Mia, who still carries the scars of the torture.  

He alleged the CID officials also threatened him with death in so-called crossfire.

“I agreed at one stage considering my mother and sister’s safety,” he said.

Joj Mia said the police officials made him memorise the confessional statement with details of the attack. They also showed him videos of the area and the incident to make it clear to him, he said.

Rashid was present and corrected him when a magistrate recorded his statement, Joj Mia said.

He said he had to name top criminals like Subrata Bain and Molla Masud, who he had not known.

“The CID officials asked me to say that these ‘Big Brothers’ had ordered me to carry out the attack for Tk 5,000. Later, I met one of them (‘Big Brothers’) in jail and he asked me why I had took his name!” Joj Mia said.

He said his family was given money on a monthly basis through the CID as a reward for his ‘confession’.

The media first unearthed the truth after his mother spoke out. He was later released.

Asked about his family, he gave both good and bad news. His mother died some days ago from a kidney disease and he could not arrange her treatment due to lack of money, Joj Mia said.

His sister’s marriage is getting delayed for his involvement in the Aug 21 cases, he said.

And Joj Mia and his wife are expecting a child now, said the man with a beaming smile.