Two members of the banned militant group Ansar al-Islam, who were sentenced to death in Jagriti Publications publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan murder case, escaped from the lock-up of Dhaka court on Sunday (November 20, 2022).

The escapees are Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib alias Sajid alias Shahab and Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Samir alias Sifat alias Imran, said Harun or-Rashid, Chief of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

“The convicts sprayed something in the eyes of two policemen and escaped while they were being taken to the court. We’re searching for them in the nearby areas. This is the first time something like this has happened in the country,” said Harun.

Read: Eight militants sentenced to death in Dipan murder case

Publisher Dipan, son of Prof Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq of Dhaka University, was hacked to death in his office on the second floor of Aziz Supermarket at Shahbagh in Dhaka on October 31, 2015.

A case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station the following day and later the case was transferred to Detective Branch.

Police on November 15, 2019, pressed charges against the eight Ansar al-Islam  men in the case.

On February 10, 2021, Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Tribunal sentenced eight militants to death.

Read: Dipan murder case verdict today

The six other death-row convicts in the case are Md Abdus Sabur alias Abdus Samad alias Sujan alias Raju alias Saad, Khairul Islam alias Jamil alias Rifat alias Fahim alias Jisan, Mozammel Hossain alias Saimon alias Shahriar, Md Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubayer alias Jayed alias Javed, Syed Ziaul Hoque, a suspended major of Bangladesh Army who is known as Sagar alias Borobhai, and Akram Hossain alias Hasib alias Abir alias Adnan alias Abdullah.

Among the convicts, Sayed Ziaul Hoque and Akram Hossain have been absconding since the killing of Faisal Arefin Dipan.