10 Absconding Convicts in Aug 21 Case : CID moves to seek Interpol red notice

The CID will write to the National Central Bureau of the Police Headquarters to get the Interpol to issue red notices for 10 absconding convicts of the August 21 grenade attack case.

The 10 fugitives are retired Lt Col Saiful Islam Joardar, former DGFI director retired Maj Gen ATM Amin Ahmed, and militants Md Iqbal, Mohibul Muktakin, Anisul Morsalin, Mohammed Khalil, Maulana Liton alias Delwar Hossain alias Zobayer, Jahangir Alam Badar, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman and Mufti Abdul Hai.

Of the 49 convicted of the grenade attack in 2004, 16 are absconding.

Interpol had earlier issued red notices for six of them, but later cancelled the notice for BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, who is in the UK, and former BNP lawmaker Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, who is either in the UK or the US. About the other four, the NCB has come to know Mawlana Mohammad Tajuddin Mia is probably in Pakistan, Abul Haris Chowdhury in India or Malaysia, Ratul Ahmed Babu in Italy or South Africa and Mohammad Hanif in Thailand or Malaysia.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) issues red notices for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence. A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

Police Headquarters' National Central Bureau (NCB) in Dhaka is the focal point for Interpol in Bangladesh.

Officers familiar with the proceedings said the NCB recently asked the Criminal Investigation Department for its opinion on whether to seek red notices for the 10 convicts.

An officer at the section concerned of the CID said the department was preparing the necessary documents. "We will write to the NCB to communicate with the Interpol about issuing the red notices for the 10 convicts."

Mohiul Islam, assistant inspector general, at the Police Headquarters said Interpol red notices were issued for six of the convicts at different times, but Tarique's red notice was cancelled on January 26, 2016, due to his protective status and Kaikobad's notice got cancelled on May 4, 2018, as it did not comply with the Interpol's constitution.

The grisly attacks on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004 left 24 people dead and over 300 wounded. AL chief Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, narrowly escaped with injuries to her right ear.

Mohiul said at the request of the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the NCB was trying to get the red notice reissued for Tarique in a money laundering case filed with Cantonment Police Station in the capital.

In the grenade attack case, the CID pressed charges against 52 in October 2018. Of them 49 got convicted. The court awarded death penalty to 19, life imprisonment to 19, three years imprisonment and a fine of Tk 50,000 to four and two years imprisonment with a fine of Tk 50,000 to seven.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Mufti Abdul Hannan and Shahidul Alam Bipul were found guilty and executed in other cases by the time the charges were pressed in the grenade attack case.