Two death-row convicts escaped from police custody after overpowering them with a yet-to-be-identified spray in Dhaka on Sunday.
The convicts, identified as Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Samir and Abu Siddique Sohel aliases Sakib, Sajid and Sahab, were members of the outlawed militant organisation Ansar Al Islam.
They received the death penalty for their involvement in the killings of Jagriti Prokashoni publisher Faysal Arefin Dipon and writer Avijit Roy.
The authorities have announced a Tk 2.0 million reward for information on the whereabouts of the death-row convicts, according to bdnews24.com.
The prisoners managed to give law enforcers the slip while they were being escorted to a court in Dhaka to testify in a case on Sunday, according to Kotwali Police Station chief Mizanur Rahman.
Both Moinul and Abu Siddique were behind bars at the Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur and had been transported to Dhaka to testify in another case in front of a special anti-terrorism tribunal, confirmed Md Faruk Hossain, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
“They sprayed something on the eyes of the policemen in charge of escorting them to the court and escaped,” he said.