Dhaka:
About 700 Bangladeshi prisoners were still on the run after mass prison escapes over the summer during the student-led revolution that ousted autocratic former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, authorities said on Wednesday.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India, where she is staying, in August when her government collapsed at the height of a popular uprising.
In the weeks before her departure, riots or sieges by protesters in five prisons in the Muslim-majority country caused about 2,200 prisoners to escape from their cells.
The head of the prison, Syed Mohammad Motaher Hossain, told reporters that about 1,500 of that number have since been captured, while the rest remain at large.
Hossain said at least 70 fugitives were “terrorists” or “death row inmates.”
Hundreds of people marched on a prison in the town of Narsingdi, east of the capital Dhaka, on July 19, setting fire to the prison and releasing hundreds of prisoners.
In the following weeks, four more prisons were attacked, including a high-security prison in Kashimpur, home to some of the country's most notorious criminals.
Police spokesman Imam Hossain Sagar said efforts to locate the remaining refugees were ongoing.
“We have instructed all police stations to remain alert and arrest the escapees,” he said.
Sagar added that the police were also closely monitoring several 'top terrorists' who were released on bail by the court after Hasina's ouster.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
