Two death row convicts snatched away from court premises

Two militants, who were awarded death sentence in murder cases filed over the murder of Jagriti Prokashoni’s Foysal Arefin Dipan and blogger Avijit Roy, were snatched away from court premises in Old Dhaka on Sunday.   

The two are – Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat Samir, from Madhabpur village in Chhatak upazila, Sunamganj and Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib from Bheteshwar village in Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat.

Police said their associates snatched them away from the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court premises at Ray Shaheb Bazar area in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon.

The chief of detective branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), additional commissioner Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, told Prothom Alo that while police were taking them to custody after hearing of a case in the court, their associates snatched them away by throwing spray to the police’s eyes. Later, the militants fled the court riding two motorbikes.    

Police once announced award for providing information to detain them. Both Moinul Hasan Shamim and Md Abu Siddique Sohel are accused in several cases.

The public prosecutor, Golam Sarwar Khan, told Prothom Alo said, “We have heard that they have been snatched away while they were being taken to custody after a hearing in the court.”

Meanwhile, members of different detective branches, including Dhaka DB police, inspected the scene.

Harun-or-Rashid said drives will be continued to detain the militants.