Two Islamist militants sentenced to demise for killing a US blogger essential of non secular extremism escaped from a crowded courtroom in Bangladesh’s Dhaka on Sunday.
Avijit Roy, an engineer of Bangladeshi starting place, was once hacked to demise through machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 whilst returning house together with his spouse from a Dhaka ebook truthful. His spouse, blogger Rafida Bonya Ahmed, suffered head accidents and misplaced a thumb within the assault.
Five contributors of an Islamist militant team had been sentenced to demise remaining yr, whilst one was once jailed for lifestyles.
Two of the ones on demise row escaped on Sunday, after bikers sprayed a chemical on law enforcement officials sooner than snatching away the convicts, police mentioned.
“A massive manhunt has been launched to capture them and their helpers,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan advised journalists, including that border safety officers were placed on alert to forestall the lads fleeing the rustic.
Police have additionally introduced an award of two million taka (about $19,350) for tracing the convicts.
The convicted males belong to the al Qaeda-inspired home militant team Ansar Ullah Bangla Team and police say the gang was once in the back of the murders of greater than a dozen secular activists and bloggers.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh noticed a string of fatal assaults between 2013 and 2016 concentrated on bloggers, secular activists and spiritual minorities, claimed through ISIS or al Qaeda-aligned teams.
