Two weeks ago Obaid Ullah was a prisoner in Ningarhar jail in Jalalabad. On the night the Taliban fled the city, the prison doors were unlocked and Obaid and the other inmates set free.
Now this petty criminal finds himself on the other side of the law - working as a security guard in the jail where he had been held captive for three months.
The cells in the jail are still empty and post-Taliban Jalalabad is on the verge of civil disorder with no justice system and no effective police force. While the Taliban's system of Islamic law and order was hated by many, at least it provided stability.
"People are now living in fear. There are shootings and lootings all the time now. At least under the Taliban you felt secure and that there was some accountability for crimes," Abdul Gul, a carpenter, said.
Yesterday, Obaid Ullah showed us the prison cell he shared with eight other inmates until November 14th, when the Taliban departed for the mountains. The dark building is exactly as it was left that night. Dirty blankets and food scraps are strewn on the floors of the cells.
According to Obaid, the prisoners had been following the events of September 11th on a radio. They were aware of the US bombardment and the fall of Kabul. Some prisoners cried when they heard the Taliban were leaving Jalalabad.
Local mujahideen, who poured back into Jalalabad to reclaim the city, set free the prisoners. They had been jailed in connection with a range of crimes, including murder, theft and adultery.
Their diet was poor: the only food they got was bread. They had to carry their own water from a pump in the yard. Prisoners who broke the rules were punished by being given manual work to do. But they were never beaten, Obaid insisted.
But the situation now is not good in the city. "It is a free for all. There are no courts or judges."
There were 40 women held in Jalalabad jail. One was serving a sentence for adultery. She had her 10 children with her as her husband was being held in the men's wing for another crime and there was no one to mind them. The remains of a plastic doll was still lying on her cell floor yesterday.
In the administration office, head shots of prisoners were scattered on a table, and the prison records thrown on the ground.
In the Jalalabad public hospital, there is evidence of rising social disorder. A hospital nurse Mohammad Wali, said the number of people with gun shot wounds admitted since the Taliban left had doubled.
"The situation is getting out of hand. People are shooting each other all the time. This town is going wild. It was not like this when the Taliban were here."
Mano Gull was being treated for a gun wound he received in the leg 10 days ago. He was working with the new security commander in Jalalabad when he was attacked at a fuel station.
"There were two of us and we had stopped for fuel. Men shot at us and were trying to take our car. We started shooting as well. We killed one of them and captured two more."
In the surgical ward, a shepherd, Ezart Khan, was recovering from being shot twice by a gang in his mountain village of Khiwa.
"About 20 thieves came and tried to steal my sheep. They shot at me and I was hit twice. But the villagers came and they fled," he said.
There are three powerful men running Jalalabad today: the governor, Mr Haji Qadir, the security commander, Mr Hazart Ali, and the military commander, Mr Haji Zaman.
In theory they are all allies. But each still has his "army", his own guns and his own checkpoints.
This is a city divided by tribal and military allegiance.
Yesterday I asked Mr Haji Zaman about the lawlessness in the city. He insisted that everything was under control, and that stability prevailed. But the evidence on the ground contradicts this.
Torki Hamad sees his Toyota pick-up truck being driven around the city by armed bearded men every day. When he asks about it they point their Kalashnikovs and tell him to go away.
Last week the men stopped Torki at a checkpoint, demanded the keys and drove off. They are part of a unit headed by one of the top commanders in the city.
Torki has no where to turn to as there are no police here. Several times he has pleaded with the commander for the return of his vehicle but to no avail.
The other night, we heard several gunshots from our hotel. The next day we were told there had been a shoot-out between two rival families. Two people were dead.
Since the Taliban left the peasants have started planting opium again. The road from Jalalabad to Kabul, where four journalists were hauled from their cars and shot dead last week, has become a no-go area. "I fear we are heading for anarchy. There is no control," a local trader, Hamar Shah, comments.
The jails are empty in Jalalabad. Fear is returning to the streets.