One suspect arrested over snatching away militants

Police have arrested a person in a case filed over snatching away two death row convicts from the court premises in Old Dhaka.

The arrestee was identified as Mehedy Hasan Omi, 24, from Sylhet.  

An official of the counter terrorism and transnational crime (CTTC) unit confirmed the development to Prothom Alo.

Seeking anonymity, the official told Prothom Alo that Mehedy Hasan participated directly in snatching away the two militants. He is a member of military wing of Ansar Al Islam.

Mehedy also took part in the killing mission of blogger Nazimuddin Samad, a student of Jagannath University.  

A group of militants hacked and shot Samad dead at Lakshmi Bazar area in Old Dhaka on 6 April 2016. After killing him, they fled the scene riding two motorbikes.

The two militants, who were snatched away, are Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat Samir, from Madhabpur village in Chhatak upazila, Sunamganj and Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib from Bhateshwar village in Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat.

They were awarded death sentence in murder cases filed over the murder of Jagriti Prokashoni’s Foysal Arefin Dipan and blogger Avijit Roy.