Approximately 700 prisoners in Bangladesh remain unaccounted for several months after the escape of 2,200 inmates during a massive protest movement that resulted in the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August, according to media reports on Wednesday.
Syed Mohammad Motaher Hossain, head of the prison services, informed journalists that around 1,500 of the escaped inmates have been recaptured, while 700 others are still missing.
In the weeks leading up to the former Prime Minister’s departure to India in August, demonstrators engaged in riots and sit-ins at five prisons across the South Asian nation.
On July 19, hundreds of individuals stormed a prison in Narsingdi, east of the capital Dhaka, setting the facility ablaze and facilitating the escape of 2,200 detainees. Four additional prisons were attacked in the subsequent weeks, including a high-security facility in Kashimpur.
Police spokesperson Imam Hossain Sagar stated that efforts to locate the escapees are ongoing.
