After 35 yrs in jail, this man can’t find his village

Tarabganj police station SHO Ram Narayan said Rajaram’s village is ‘‘not on the map of Tarabganj area.’’ Wakeel Ahmad, the inspector of Dehat Kotwali, said he could not locate the address (as per jail records) despite looking for it for over four hours with a police party.

Rajaram, who spent 35 years in a Faizabad jail and Benaras Mental Hospital after a district court found him mentally unstable during his trial for a petty theft case in 1970, was sent to Tarabganj, Gonda, with two police constables after his release on Wednesday.

‘‘I am not a thief,’’ Rajaram, now 70, had told The Indian Express at the Tarabganj police station. ‘‘The original thief escaped and police arrested me (in September 1970).’’

After 35 years in jail and hospital, all he recalls now is his name, and that of his village — Sote ka Purva.

Gonda police officials said after failing to locate his house, they asked the policemen escorting Rajaram from Faizabad to take him back.

Faizabad jail suprintendent Alok Shrivastava said, ‘‘Rajaram was released on Wednesday night, and I am least concerned where he has gone (after that).’’ Asked about the constables, he said they are yet to report back.

B.D. Shukla, SP, Faizabad, claimed ‘‘no knowledge’’ of the issue, as did Ashutosh Kumar, the Superintendent of Police, Gonda.

Meanwhile, District Government Councel O.P. Sinha told The Indian Express that the magistrate should not have released Rajaram on ‘‘just personal bail bond.’’ Since a non-bailable warrant was pending against him, Sinha said the magistrate ‘‘should have taken surety of some responsible person before releasing him.’’

Asked if Rajaram is mentally sound now, Dr A.K. Singh of Benaras Mental Hospital said a board comprising the District Judge and Chief Medical Officer issued him a fitness certificate.

His Case History

Arrested and sent to the district jail in September ’70, following a theft charge in Faizabad district’s Raunahi police station area, jail officials said Rajaram was found mentally unstable during his trial. Following a court order, the then civil surgeon had carried out the tests, and Rajaram was subsequently sent to the mental hospital.

The court had asked the hospital to give regular updates on his condition, but the reports were neither delivered, nor asked for, admitted Faizabad Jail officials.