Militants take advantage of security loopholes

Before the escape of two militants from a Dhaka court yesterday, the last such instance of convicted militants being whisked away from custody took place nearly nine years ago when criminals carried out an attack on a police van and shot dead a cop.

In the February 2014 incident in Mymensingh's Trishal, an armed gang ambushed a prison van, carrying three JMB militants from the Gazipur prison to a Mymensingh court.

In an orchestrated plan, the van was first intercepted by a truck on a road.

A microbus carrying armed criminals had already been following the van since it began its journey from the prison, and more armed gang members waited at the point where the truck was to intercept the van.

With the prison van blocked from both sides, the gang members got off the microbus and started shooting and exploding crude bombs.

The attackers then snatched the key from the law enforcers, opened the door of the van, cut the fetters with rod cutters and took away three JMB men, as reported by this newspaper. A constable on guard was killed.

Compare this with yesterday's escape of Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Samir alias Imran and Abu Siddiq Sohel, convicts on death row in the murder case of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan, and also operatives of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam.

Convicts ambled into the court premises, with only one hand cuffed. One police official was walking four militant convicts, including the two sentenced to death. Each of the two were handcuffed together and the cop was holding one end of a rope that tied the handcuffs of all four.

Only four cops were escorting 12 militants, including the two snatched away. A blast of pepper spray in the eyes of the cop was all it took for them to escape.

The attackers could manage to whisk away Moinul and Abu Siddiq on a motorbike.

Former inspector general of police Muhammed Nurul Huda said security measures were seemingly inadequate yesterday.

"A team of law enforcers takes the accused to court while another ensures their security. They should have been more careful. There were some problems in the security arrangement, which would be identified through an investigation," he added.

Speaking to this newspaper, several police and Rab officials who deal with militants said the attackers detected loopholes in security and devised the plan.

It is not that security cannot be arranged. During a hearing in the same case on February 10 last year, security for these two militants who escaped had been quite different.

This newspaper reported, "The entire floor was blocked off by a wall of policemen, and every person going in was frisked rigorously. Before people were allowed in, the entire courtroom was combed for explosives. For once, the metal detector was plugged in.

"Each of them [the militants] wore helmets, bulletproof vests, over starched white Panjabi and salwars. Their hands were cuffed tightly behind their back, and they were not allowed to wear shoes as a precautionary measure. Even as they stood locked in the docket, a wall of police encircled them."

However, no policemen were deployed at the tribunal yesterday.

A top Rab official said all units of law enforcement and intelligence agencies were previously notified prior to taking militants and notorious criminals to and from courts so that all units could remain alert and take proper security measures.

"But the practice did not continue. Now we don't get any prior notice before carrying of top militants to and from courts for hearing in cases," the official told The Daily Star seeking anonymity.

Among the three militants who escaped custody following the Trishal attack is Rakib Hasan Russell alias Hafez Mahmud. He was later killed in a "gunfight" with law enforcers after being arrested.

Another escapee is now serving a jail term in India after being held there while the third is still on the run.