The government has launched investigations into Sunday’s incident in which three convicted Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants were snatched away from a prison van after the killing of a police constable.
Published : 23 Feb 2014, 10:50 PM
Two committees have been constituted -- the first by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the other by the police.
The committees have been given three days to submit their findings.
In a filmy style hold-up, a large group of masked gunmen had intercepted the prison van, opened fire on police, killed a policeman, and snatched away the JMB convicts, two of them sentenced to death, around 10am at Trishal Upazila in Mymensingh.
Police Headquarters spokesperson Kamrul Ahsan told reporters that CID Deputy Inspector General (DIG) MD Saiful Islam will head the three-strong police probe committee.
Assistant Inspector General Abdul Alim Mahmud was made the member secretary of this team and Additional DIG (Dhaka Range) Khandker Golam Faruk member.
The home ministry named Additional Secretary Nazim Uddin Chowdhury to lead its four-strong enquiry committee.
Members of this team are DIG (Dhaka Range) SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman, DIG Prisons (Headquarters) Tipu Sultan and home ministry Deputy Secretary Khairul Kabir Menon, said Joint Secretary Iftekharul Islam Khan.
The convicted three JMB militants were being transported to a court in Mymensingh from Gazipur’s Kashimpur Central Jail for a case hearing when the prison van carrying them came under attack at Trishal’s Sighboard.
The assailants had come riding a truck and a microbus, obstructed the van and bombed it. They also opened fire at police before making off with the prisoners.
Of them, Salauddin Salehin alias Sunny and Raqibul Hasan were death row convicts and Jahidul Islam alias Bomaru Mizan was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Raqibul has been already arrested from Tangail.
Usually, police security is mandatory when important prisoners are being transported from jail to court in prison van. But the van at Trishal did not have any additional security when the attack was carried out.
Meanwhile, two policemen have been taken to task for negligence of duty.
Gazipur Superintendent of Police Md Abdul Baten said Subedar Abdul Karim was suspended and Reserve Inspector Syedul Karim withdrawn from duty.
Police constable Atiqul Islam, 30, was killed in the attack and two others injured.
Border outposts in Bangladesh have been put on red alert to prevent the fleeing militants by crossing over to India.
A massive manhunt is currently underway and the authorities have declared a bounty of Tk 200,000 for information on each of the fugitives.
Securities at all the prisons in the country including the ones at Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi with many other militants have been beefed up after the attack at Trishal.