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.

The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule questioning the legality of keeping death row convicts in condemn cells before the disposal of their cases. A bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Ahmed Sohel issued the rule following a writ petition filed by the three convicts who were in the condemned cells before the death sentence was issued. At the same time, the court issued a rule asking why Regulation 980 of Bangladesh Jail Code regarding this provision should not be declared unconstitutional. Also read:Hoarders control essential market taking advantage of inactive govt machineries: HC Besides, it has directed the Inspector General of Prisons (IG Prisons) to submit a report in six months regarding the facilities of the convicts in the condemn cell. The secretaries of Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, inspector general of police (IGP), IG Prisons and senior jail supers in Chattogram, Sylhet and Cumilla were made respondents to the rule and asked to respond to the rule in four weeks. Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir appeared for the writ petition in the court while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.  Shishir  said there is no legal provision to execute the death sentence immediately after the verdict is pronounced in the court. There are a number of necessary legal steps that must be taken to execute a death sentence. “The approval of the High Court Division is required to carry out execution under Section 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code. At the same time, according to Section 410 of the Criminal Procedure Code, there is a provision to file an appeal in the High Court Division,” said the lawyer. If the High Court Division upholds the death penalty, the convicted person may appeal directly to the Appellate Division as a constitutional right, he added. Besides, under Article 105 of the Constitution, there is a legal opportunity to appeal against the verdict of the appellate court. Above all, a death row convict can seek an apology from the President under Article 49 of the Constitution. If the President does not grant the pardon then the death penalty is legal. But the convict is kept in the condemn cell immediately after the verdict of death penalty in the judicial court of Bangladesh, said lawyer Shishir. Also read: Crack down on syndicates of essential commodities, HC asks govt On September 2 last year, three death row convicts filed the writ petition in the High Court. Their appeals against the death penalty are still pending in the High Court. Before HC approves the death penalty, taking the covict to the condemn cell is violation of the fundamental rights given in Articles 27, 31 and 32 of the Constitution, reads the writ petition. Similarly, keeping the convict in  condemn cell before disposal of the review petition and clemency appeal to the President is violating the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, it added.