On 20 November 2022, militants sprayed pepper spray at police on the premises of the Dhaka CMM Court and whisked away two death-row convicts — Moinul Hasan Shamim and Abu Siddiq Sohel, who had been sentenced for the murder of publisher Dipan.
The attackers also attempted to snatch two other accused, Arafat and Sabur, but both were detained at the scene afterwards.
Following the incident, then Court Inspector Julhas Uddin Akand filed a case with Kotwali Police Station. Alongside the two militants who were snatched away, another seven to eight unnamed persons were included as accused. Over time, investigators arrested 24 people in connection with the case. All of them have since been released on bail by lower and higher courts.
However, the investigation remains incomplete, and the mystery behind the escape has not been uncovered. The deadline for submitting the investigation report has been deferred repeatedly, and the investigating officer has been changed several times. The latest date for filing the report was set for 30 October, but the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit failed to submit it. The court has now fixed 3 December as the next date for the report.
Speaking about the slow pace of the investigation, the current investigating officer, CTTC Inspector Md Aziz Ahmed, said, “This is a sensitive case. Such investigations require time. The truth will emerge through a lengthy and thorough probe.”
He declined to comment further.
Public Prosecutor Omar Faruk Faruqi of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court said, “In many cases, suspects are arrested but police may not ultimately find evidence against them, which is why they secure bail.”
“In the past, such cases were used to harass people of different political leanings. Now investigators need time to extract concrete information,” he added.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the escape was planned and directed by Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque alias Sagar alias Boro Bhai alias Major Zia — a dismissed army major and military wing leader of Ansar al-Islam.
Under his direction, Ayman alias Moshior Rahman, 37, Sabbirol Haque Chowdhury alias Akash alias Konik, 24, Tanvir alias Shamshed Mia alias Saiful alias Tushar Biswas, 26, Riazul Islam alias Riaz alias Suman, 26, and Md Omar Faruk alias Noman alias Ali alias Sad, 28, conspired to carry out the attack and snatch the convicts from police custody, goes the FIR.
To execute the plan, five to six unidentified Ansar al-Islam members arrived on two motorbikes on 20 November 2022. Another 10–12 militants positioned themselves around the court’s perimeter and at the main gate.
As police brought the prisoners near the main entrance of the court around noon, the militants attacked the police officers guarding the accused — Shamim, Sohel, Arafat, and Sabur — and succeeded in snatching away the two condemned militants, Moinul Hasan Shamim and Abu Siddiq Sohel, says the FIR.
