Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said that the government has issued red alert at all the entry and exit points of the country to nab the two Ansar al-Islam members who escaped from the premises of a lower court in Dhaka on Sunday (November 20, 2022) noon.

The minister said this while talking to journalists at his Secretariat office.

“Police are looking for them everywhere. I hope we’ll be able to apprehend them soon. We’ve told law enforcement agencies to beef up their surveillance at the border areas so that they (the convicts) can’t leave the country,” Asaduzzaman said.

Read: Dipan murder case verdict today

Asked how the militants escaped, the home minister said that pepper spray was used on policemen before the duo fled.

“The two Ansar al-Islam members were brought to the court earlier today and were kept in the lock-up. After producing them before a magistrate, police were taking them back to the lock-up when some of their accomplices emerged out of nowhere, used pepper spray on the police and whisked the militants away,” Asaduzzaman said.

The home minister added that exemplary punishment will be given to those found responsible for negligence in duties.

Read More: Police announce Tk 10 lakh for each death row convict who fled a Dhaka court today

“Militants escaping from the hands of the police is an unfortunate incident. We’ll form a probe body and take necessary steps so that such occurrences don’t happen again,” added Asaduzzaman.

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.

On February 10, 2021, Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Tribunal sentenced eight militants to death in the Dipan murder case.

Read: Two militants convicted to death in Dipan murder case flee Dhaka court lock-up