Militants, death row convicts among 700 inmates who fled prisons, 20 firearms still missing
Mugger Rasel Mia, alias Jewel, and his accomplices killed a man while attempting to rob a moving train in Bhairab, Kishoreganj, nine years ago. In March 2016, police arrested Rasel in connection with the murder case filed over the incident. On 16 November that year, the court sentenced Rasel and his associates to death.
Since then, Rasel had been in Gazipur’s Kashimpur High Security Central Jail. The day after the fall of the Awami League government in the July mass uprising, on 6 August, Rasel escaped from the high-security prison. Eight months later, on 26 June, the police’s Anti-Terrorism Unit arrested him during a raid at Jalilpur Bazar in Maheshpur, Jhenaidah.
Authorities have so far managed to return 1,520 escaped prisoners like Rasel to the jails who fled in incidents related to July mass uprising. Among them, 1,130 have been granted bail while another 721 prisoners still remain at large. Additionally, 20 firearms (Chinese rifles and shotguns) looted from five prisons across the country have yet to be recovered.
Law enforcement officials say that dangerous fugitives might commit various crimes while outside, which could worsen the law and order situation.
According to the Department of Prisons, prisoners created chaos in several jails before and after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August last year. During that time, extreme disorder and rebellion in five prisons across the country allowed 2,240 inmates to escape. The attackers looted 94 shotguns and Chinese rifles from the prisons. Six prisoners died while fleeing from the Kashimpur High Security Central Jail. The fugitives include militants, death row convicts, those serving life sentences, and undertrial prisoners. Among them, 203 are death row or life-term convicts, charged with crimes such as murder, robbery, terrorism, arms possession, drugs, rape, and violence against women.
A senior official from the prisons department, requesting anonymity, told Prothom Alo that law enforcement agencies have been unable to locate the fugitives and believe that many may have fled abroad.
On 19 July 2024, thousands stormed the main gate of Narsingdi District Jail, broke open the cells, and set fires inside. During this chaos, 826 inmates, including nine militants, escaped.
The jail’s senior superintendent, Md Shamim Iqbal, said that after the incident, the administration announced that no cases would be filed against those who surrendered. As a result, 646 prisoners surrendered. Additionally, law enforcement arrested 38, including three militants. Some 142 prisoners are still at large.
Shamim Iqbal added that the prison office's online systems had been destroyed, leaving them without detailed information on the fugitives.
On the evening of 5 August last year, criminals broke into Gazipur High Security Central Jail by smashing the main gate. They set fire to a warehouse building inside, destroyed prisoner files, and six inmates died in the stampede. 202 prisoners escaped from this prison, most of whom were jailed under the anti-terrorism law for militant activities.
The prison’s senior superintendent, Mohammad Abdullah-Al-Mamun, said that law enforcement agencies have so far recaptured 65 of those prisoners. Another 137 remain at large.
On the same evening, several hundred criminals scaled the walls of Satkhira Jail, broke open the main gate, and freed 596 prisoners.
Satkhira Jail’s superintendent, Deb Dulal Karmakar, said that 529 inmates have since surrendered, and 23 have been arrested. 44 prisoners, including two women, are still missing.
That afternoon, criminals broke into Sherpur District Jail, vandalised, looted, and set fire to parts of the prison. 518 inmates escaped during the chaos. The attackers looted nine firearms (five Chinese rifles and four shotguns) from the jail.
Sherpur District Jail’s acting superintendent, Muhammad Abdus Selim, said law enforcement has arrested 138 of those fugitives so far. 380 remain at large. Authorities have recovered nine looted firearms and 1,175 rounds of ammunition.
On 7 August, two days after the uprising, inmates at Kushtia District Jail staged a rebellion. At one point, they attacked guards, allowing 98 prisoners to escape.
According to the jail superintendent, Mohammad Abdur Rahim, 72 have since surrendered and nine have been arrested. Seventeen are still missing.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Prisons, Brigadier General Syed Md Motaher Hossain, said that among the escaped, 69 are high-risk inmates. 60 were death row convicts and nine militants. Some of the looted Chinese rifles and shotguns remain missing, posing a security risk.
However, he added that the fugitives are not in a position to drastically worsen law and order because the manhunt continues, though authorities still have no clear idea of many of their whereabouts.