Police filed a case against 20 people including the two death row convicts in publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan murder case who were snatched from a Dhaka Court lock-up on Sunday.

The case was lodged around afternoon at the capital's Kotwali police station, said Khondaker Golam Faruq, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner while visiting the spot in the evening.

The escapees are Md Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sakib alias Sajid alias Shahab and Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Samir alias Sifat alias Imran. They are members of banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam, who were sentenced to death in Jagriti Publications publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan murder case.

Police earlier announced Tk 10 lakh for information on each of them.

Read more: Militants flee Dhaka Court: Red Alert issued, says Home Minister

“The convicts sprayed something on 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 or-Rashid, Chief of Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)..

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 the city 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 more: Police announce Tk 10 lakh for each death row convict who fled a Dhaka court today

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