Dhaka, Nov. 8 -- A man spent nearly a year in prison for a crime committed by someone with the same name.

The High Court has ordered his immediate release after an inquiry confirmed police arrested the wrong Md Almas in a 2002 arms case.

A bench of Justices JBM Hassan and Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan issued the order on Sunday after reviewing a report submitted by Senior Judicial Magistrate Mahfuzur Rahman on Nov 1.

Similarities in the men's names, their fathers' names and addresses had caused the mix-up.

The original case documents gave the convict's address as Purba Dhoair in Dohar. But an investigating officer later recorded it as "South Barra", a mistake carried into the arrest warrant. Similarities in the men's fathers' names further compl...