Bareilly (UP) | A 45-year-old man from Mainpuri, who spent nearly half his life in prison, has been released from Bareilly Central Jail after the Allahabad High Court acquitted him in a dacoity case, officials said on Thursday.

Azad Khan, a resident of Jyoti Katra village in Mainpuri district, had been lodged in jail since his arrest in 2001. Though the high court acquitted him in the dacoity case on December 19, 2025, procedural hurdles delayed his release, jail authorities said.

Bareilly Central Jail jailer, Neeraj Kumar, said that Khan's release was facilitated after his brother, Mastan Khan, furnished a personal bond of Rs 20,000. The remaining Rs 7,000, imposed as a fine in an earlier case, was arranged with the help of an NGO, Chhoti Si Asha, and contributions from jail staff, he said.

Speaking after his release, Khan expressed gratitude to jail officials and staff for extending financial help to secure his release. "I will pray for them all my life for the help they gave me," he said.

Khan was released around 9 pm on Wednesday and left for his home in Mainpuri district along with his brother, officials said.

According to records, Khan was arrested around 2001 on charges of dacoity.

In 2002, a special court in Mainpuri convicted him of dacoity and causing grievous hurt, sentencing him to life imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 20,000, with an additional two years' imprisonment in default of payment.

In a separate case, the Mainpuri additional district and sessions court sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment under the Arms Act and for attempt to murder, along with a fine of Rs 7,000, with an additional year's imprisonment in default. Khan completed the sentences in the latter cases.

He was initially lodged in the Fatehgarh Central Jail and was transferred to Bareilly Central Jail in 2003 to serve his sentence.

Hearing his appeal, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Khan in the dacoity case, citing lack of evidence and absence of eyewitnesses. The court also directed that he be released on furnishing bail bonds.

However, as the release order could not be issued immediately due to incomplete formalities at the Mainpuri court, the matter came to the notice of jail authorities.

Senior jail superintendent Avinash Gautam wrote to the special judge in Mainpuri seeking the release order. Following coordination between jail officials and receipt of the release warrant via email, Khan was finally freed.