Bangladesh Police has announced a reward of Tk10 lakh for each of the two death row convicts and a total of Tk20 lakh for finding both who escaped from the court premises after the hearing at a Dhaka tribunal.
The announcement was made Sunday afternoon.
The escaped convicts are Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sajid alias Sihab and Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat.
The tribunal's Assistant Public Prosecutor Golam Sarwar Khan Zakir said that the accused were brought to court from prison on Sunday morning. Then they were kept in jail. They were produced before the Anti-Terrorism Tribunal from the jail.
“After hearing of the case, the convicts were brought out to be taken to jail. In the meantime, seven to eight unidentified people entered the court premises and sprayed on the face of the guarding officials before snatching the convicts from police custody,” he added.
The two escapees were the convicted murderers of publisher Foisal Arefin Dipon and members of the banned militant organization Ansar al-Islam.
Dipon was brutally hacked to death at the Jagriti Prokashony office on the second floor of Aziz Super Market in Shahbagh on October 31, 2015.
A murder case was filed at Shahbagh police station two days later against unidentified assailants. Police pressed charges against the eight militants on November 15, 2018.
At the same time on the day of Dipon's murder, three bloggers and writers were attacked in the same manner at the office of the publishing house Shuddhashar in Lalmatia.
Six militants – including the ones who escaped on Sunday, had confessed before the court following their arrests.
