He was not released due to legal complexity over his nationality as police showed him an Indian national while forwarding his case to the court.

Asgar Ali Gazi, father of ill-fated Shamsuddin Gazi of Sreefalkati village under Shyamnagar upazila, yesterday submitted a prayer to Satkhira deputy commissioner (DC) to release his son from the jail.

A certificate of the chairman of the union parishad concerned certifying his (Shamsuddin) Bangladeshi nationality was also enclosed with the prayer, relatives of the victim said.

On the other hand, the jail authorities are trying to push him back to India on completion of his prison term recently, but Indian Border Security Force (BSF) refused to take him arguing that he has no successor in India.

Shamsuddin, a day-labourer, went to India for jobs soon after a devastating cyclone that lashed the coastal belts including Shyamnagar upazila in 1988 disrupting the normal life in the region.

Police arrested him with some Indian goods from Kaliganj while he was returning home from India in 2001, and a case was filed against him with the local police station.

Police forwarded his case to the court mentioning him as an Indian national with the address of Shamsuddin, son of Asgar Ali of Basirhat village under 24 Pargana district of West Bengal for unknown reason.

He was convicted and sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for five years in 2002, and his imprison term was completed on March 22.

But the jail authorities could not free him due to legal complexity which arose following police report, jail sources said.

The relatives of the victim have urged the authorities concerned to take measures in this regard.