Sambalpur: Rightly said, man proposes, god disposes. Even when 35-year-old Jabir Sattar got bail in a crime - arrested for possessing five cough syrup bottles - that had landed him in jail, he had nowhere to go. Belonging to Jharkhand, he continued behind bars as neither his family came to take him back, nor was his address found valid. While anyone in his position could have been badly affected under such circumstances, call it providential dispensation, Sattar was not perturbed as he is battling a mental illness and seems unaffected by emotions.
Now, after spending five years in Sambalpur Mandal Jail, he was released earlier this month and taken to a rehabilitation centre. He was arrested in July 17, 2019 for allegedly dealing in banned cough syrup. (The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 prohibits the manufacture, production, trade, use, etc. of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Many cough syrups contain restricted and banned content and cannot therefore be sold illegally without a medical practitioner's prescription.)
At the time of his arrest, sources said, he could not defend himself as he was not stable mentally. He had then provided an address in Aghora, Sonua, Ranchi. But repeated attempts by jail authorities to contact his family went in vain. Letters sent to the address were returned, and police investigations revealed that the address did not exist.
In the five years he spent inside the prison walls, Jabir struggled with his mental health. He was found to be disoriented and hardly communicated. Though he had cordial relation with the inmates and staff, he was visibly not in his own control. For hours he would sit in isolation as none from the family ever visited him. No one even called to find out how he was doing. Jail authorities say lack of emotional support must have affected him all the more.
But jail officials did not give up. When they could not contact his family, on the orders of the DIG Prisons, Sambalpur Kulamani Behera, a team traveled to Jharkhand to verify the address. They visited local police stations and neighborhoods, only to return disappointed as the address was nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Jabir was released on December 13, 2024. Since there was no other option left, Collector Sambalpur, Siddheshwar Boliram Bondar, arranged his stay at a rehabilitation centre. “Till the time his house or family is lcoated, he will be taken care of. If we find his address, we will ensure he reaches his family safely,” the DM assured.
According to Behera, Jabir’s case is unusual but not unheard of. “He remained in jail not because of his charges but because there was no one to take him. Even when bail was granted, he had no home to return to. We made every effort to locate his family, but we hit a dead end,” Behera explained.
Jabir is once again alone and spending time in solitary confinement at the rehab centre. Neither does he speak to anyone nor tells anything about his family members. He keeps blabbering at times which largely is incomprehensible. “He only remembers that his home is in Jharkhand,” the Collector said.
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