Staff Correspondent

A Bangladeshi national accused in a murder case and now detained in the Sarjah Central Jail of the United Arab Emirates could not be released due to non-cooperation of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training in Dhaka, even after being pardoned by the victim’s family.

The family of the accused made the allegation in a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity and urged the government to take effective steps to get the accused, Daud Ullah, released from the UAE prison.

Daud, who comes from Bojra village under Sonaimuri upazila of Noakhali district, went to Dubai in the UAE on March 3, 2010. The Dubai police arrested him on April 14, 2010 for his suspected involvement in the killing of another Bangladeshi expatriate, Rokshana of Shamolashi village under Savar upazila of Dhaka, who used to work there as a domestic help, Daud’s family said.

The families of both the victim and the accused reached a compromise in this connection at a local arbitration on May 16, 2011, with the victim’s parents and husband forgiving Daud in presence of a notary public, Daud’s father Md Mofiz Ullah said.

Rokhsana’s father told the conference that he and his family forgave Daud sincerely as they did not know who had killed his daughter and how and as Daud was also a Bangladeshi.

‘We took the documents proving the compromise reached between us to the BMET and then to the UAE embassy in Dhaka to get them attested but the officials concerned of both the bureau and the UAE mission refused to do that,’ Mofiz said.

He said the lawyer representing Daud in then emirates had advised him to get the papers attested by the BMET and the UAE embassy to Bangladesh and send them immediately to the confederation of gulf emirates to secure a speedy release of Daud from the jail.

‘We went to the BMET, where the officials refused to attest the papers. So, we sent them to the UAE embassy through a representative but the mission sent them back as they were not attested by the BMET,’ he went on.

Mofiz said they had received the information that the verdict in the murder case would be made soon but Daud’s release has been delayed due to non-cooperation of a section of the BMET officials.

He sought the prime minister’s intervention as well as that of the expatriate welfare minister and the foreign minister for ensuring Daud’s release and bringing him back home.