‘Why is my bail being denied?’

In jail for more than a month despite apparently being innocent of the crime she has been accused of, Amatullah Bushra is devastated at Kashimpur Women's Central Jail, her family members said.

She was arrested by Rampura police on November 10 in a case filed over the death of Buet student Fardin Noor Parash. On Wednesday, the detective branch of police -- in charge of investigating the case -- said they suspected that Fardin had died by suicide, and also that they found that Bushra was not involved in his death.

But Bushra is likely to stay in jail till January 5 as a Dhaka court will hear her bail petition on that day.

Bushra's father, Manjurul Islam, told The Daily Star yesterday that she is worried about the delay in getting bail, as well as her education and future.

"I am innocent, why is my bail being delayed?" Manjurul Islam quoted his daughter as saying when he along with his wife visited her in jail recently.

The father consoled Bushra saying the court had gone on vacation and they would soon be able to get her out on bail.

The family said Bushra, a private university student, is in a state of immense distress as she was falsely implicated in the case.

Police arrested Bushra after Fardin's father Kazi Nooruddin filed a case with Rampura Police Station against her.

"Bushra was falsely implicated in the case… Although everyone already knows she is innocent, we are worried about her future," her uncle Mazharul Islam told The Daily Star.

"We want her name dropped from the case as soon as possible," he said.

On Thursday, DB chief Mohammad Harun Or Rashid said they did not find Bushra's involvement in the incident and would let the court know about this matter.

Fardin, a third-year student of the civil engineering department of Buet, was found dead in the Shitalakkhya river in Banani Ghat area on November 7, three days after he had gone missing.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said the detectives and Rab members came up with full details about the death of Fardin after analysing all the issues related to it.

"I think our Rab and DB police have nicely explained all the matters [regarding Fardin's death]. If you want to know anything about it, you can ask them," he said in response to a query from journalists at Rajarbagh Police Lines.

After over a month of investigation, the Detective Branch of police and the Rab on Wednesday said Fardin died by suicide after jumping off a bridge into the Shitalakkhya river, where his body was found.

The Rab earlier claimed that Fardin might have been killed in Narayanganj's Chonpara by local drug dealer Raihan Mahmud and his gang members.

His father Kazi Nooruddin, however, firmly believes that his son didn't die by suicide.

"My son cannot kill himself. He was murdered in a planned way and all this drama was staged afterwards…," the father said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a group of Buet students yesterday went to Rab Headquarters in Uttara to get details about the death of their peer. They went there around 3:30pm and came out at 7:00pm.

One of the students Tahmeed Hossain said, "We spoke to the investigating officers at the DB office on Thursday.  They clarified certain things while some other things could not be clarified.

"Rab today told us how the plot changed during the investigation.  Rab spoke about a place first.  Why did they mention that place [Chonpara] and how did that place of occurance later changed?  How did Rab confirm the new findings?... All these issues are put in front and thoroughly said."

Earlier on Thursday, after meeting with the DB investigators, the students said that there are some gaps and ambiguities. Those need to be clarified.

They added that the DB officials could not show any solid or concrete evidence that Fardin indeed died by suicide.