A jail term can leave scars, incurable sometimes. As five persons jailed for the arson at UPCC president Rita Joshi’s residence are set to return home after spending 46 days behind the bars, difficult it is for them to grapple with the life that changed when they were in prison.

While Shiv Kumar will no longer be able to see his grandmother Chanda Devi, others — Guddu Yadav, Inder Singh alias Pappu , Zamir Khan, Surajjit Kumar Tiwari — need time to overcome the traumatic experience of jail.

All the five got bail on Monday after the police failed to produce any evidence of their involvement in the riot and arson case 45 days after the incident.

In fact, right from day one, allegations were ripe that they were framed by the police that was under attack for their failure to arrest a single person for the incident, which took place in a high security area.

“Nani could not bear the trauma (of Shiv’s arrest) and died with her last wish of seeing papa at her side unfulfilled,” says Sonam, the eldest daughter of Shiv Kumar.

His family alleged that Shiv, his relative Guddu Yadav and neighbour Pappu were arrested and falsely framed in the case when they contacted the local police on July 15, the night of the incident, to help resolve a petty dispute over drains in their area.

“When the arson incident took place at night, they were in the locality fighting over the drain issue. Only police know how and why they would have set on fire Congress leader’s house in the VVIP area,” says Rajkumari, Shiv’s neighbour.

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