The four men who walked free from Presidency jail late on Monday, following a Calcutta High Court order in the Kamduni rape and murder case, did not return home to Kamduni.
They have chosen to stay in an undisclosed location on the city’s fringes, where they will spend the week before deciding their next course, sources close to the four said.
“The four have not returned to Kamduni. They have been put up in a safe place,” said one of the defence lawyers.
The four who walked out of the jail around 10pm on Monday were Amin Ali, Emanul Islam, Aminur Islam and Bholanath Naskar.
The high court has commuted Amin’s death penalty to acquittal. The jail sentences of the remaining three were reduced to seven years and they were set free immediately because they have already spent more than a decade in prison.
“The four were both happy and tense while leaving the jail on Monday night. Happy for being free after so many years. Tense because they weren’t sure whether they would have to return to the prison again,” an official in the state correctional services department said.
“Before stepping out, they met the superintendent of the correctional home and said they wanted to return to normal lives.”
Two of the men worked at a bheri (a fishery) before their arrest in June 2013. Kamduni, a village in North 24-Parganas about 20km from Calcutta, is interspersed with such water bodies.
Two other men were involved in loading and unloading items such as marble slabs, sand and stone chips.
Senior officers in the correctional services department said Amin, Emanul, Aminur and Bholanath had seen Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan inside the jail recently. “The inmates enjoyed the film,” an officer said.
On Monday, more than one officer said all four were worried about what awaited them outside. “There was fear on their faces,” an officer said.
“They knew they could not return home immediately. Ten years in prison is a long time,” said Feroze Edulji, a defence lawyer in the Kamduni case.
Kamduni has been bristling with anger since the high court announced the judgment.
“There’s no guarantee about the law and order situation in Kamduni once the four return home. Who will take the responsibility if the situation deteriorates?” Mousumi Kayal, one of those in the forefront of the Kamduni protests, asked on Monday while speaking to reporters. “We don’t want the four to return home.”
The message had gone across to the four by the time they walked out of jail. They boarded a car that was waiting for them and left Alipore for an yet unknown destination.
The high court has commuted the death sentence of two other men — Ansar Ali and Saiful Ali — to life imprisonment.