A few words between father and daughter,once every few months

Lipi Rehman can count the number of times she has spoken to her father in the past eight years

Lipi Rehman,25,can count the number of times she has spoken to her father in the past eight years. That is the time that Rashid Ahmed,75,a sculptor and the recipient of several certificates of appreciation including one from his countrys prime minister,has spent in Tihar Jail with his daughter-in-law Nur Nahar since they were arrested on charges of carrying fake currency on a visit to India.

It was on a request by Lipi,a postgraduate student of accounts at Dhaka University,that the Bangladesh High Commission took up the matter with India.

I was only 17 when my father left for India as he wanted to visit the dargah in Ajmer in 2004. For seven months after he reached India,I did not where he was, she said.

Then one day I got a call from him. He said he has been arrested. My mother died in 1993 and he was all I had. My elder sister was already married by then, Lipi said over phone from Dhaka. She works as a teacher while still studying.

After Ahmeds story was reported by The Indian Express on July 7,the CBI,which had arrested him,issued a note that they have filed a chargesheet in the case against Ahmed and Nahar and the final arguments have been concluded. The CBI said the case was registered on the basis of a written complaint by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence when they were allegedly caught delivering fake notes to two men,Abad Ali and Imam Raja,at Hotel Dewan Palace in Paharganj,Delhi,on December 20,2004.

The trial in the DRI case under the Customs Act is going on simultaneously. That trial has been delayed due to the dilatory tactics of Abad Ali and Imam Raja,who have been trying to get the trial of both cases clubbed together,which has been rejected by the High Court, the CBI said in a statement.

I just want to know whether there is any hope for my fathers release. I get to speak to him for nine-ten minutes every three months. He keeps asking me when he will be able to come back home, Lipi said.

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I am alone here and do not know much about legal issues, she added. I am struggling financially and I cannot hire a lawyer in India to fight the case.

After she came to know about her fathers arrest,Lipi travelled to India in 2005 with her uncle,only to meet a dead end.

We met some lawyers there,but they asked us for Rs 5-6 lakh,which was beyond our means. Since my visa was about to expire,I came back to Dhaka and have since only heard my father on phone, Lipi said.

He is a renowned sculptor here and has received many certificates of appreciation from various personalities. Why would he indulge in something like this (fake currency dealings)? He told us he has been framed because he had an argument with the hotel manager over money.