No negligence of Gazipur police was found: GMP

Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat Samir and Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib (from left).
Collected

The two death row convicts were taken to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court from Kashimpur central prison-2 under the custody of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP).

However, the convicts were under the custody of Dhaka court police while they were snatched away by their associates, said GMP commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam, claiming that no negligence of GMP was found in this incident.

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.

Following the incident, a 'red alert' has been issued across the country in an attempt to capture them. Apart from this, an award of Tk two million has been announced on providing information for tracing the convicts.  

According to the police and prison authorities, seven members of Ansarullah Bangla Team were brought to Dhaka from Kashimpur in Gazipur around 6:15am on Sunday to produce them before the court for a hearing in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Among them, 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, were snatched away.

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.”

Molla Nazrul Islam told Prothom Alo that "a 10-member team led by a deputy inspector were handed over the accused to Dhaka court police. The accused fled the court while they were under the court police custody."

He said they take the accused to and from the court everyday maintaining tight security.

No complaint of negligence in GMP police duty was found in Sunday's incident. However, they have kept the matter into their surveillance, he added.