The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with law enforcers' failure to arrest the fugitives in the war crimes cases.

At least 87 accused and convicts are on the run after two war crimes tribunals issued arrest warrants for them since the beginning of the trial in March 2010, agency officials said.

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Of them, 22 are convicts.

"It's embarrassing for us," Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the agency, told journalists at the agency's Dhanmondi office while disclosing the findings of investigation in a war crimes case.

He said they have found evidence against three Netrakona men of their alleged involvement in crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971. But two of the three accused are on the run.

Sanaul Huq, co-coordinator of the agency, said they wrote to the authorities concerned several times for taking steps to nab the fugitives.

There are two committees to monitor the issue; still 87 accused and convicts are absconding, he said.

Though the police department has much success in arresting fugitives in other cases, there is no "visible success" in arresting the fugitives in war crimes cases, Sanaul said, adding that, "We feel embarrassed when victims and witnesses of the cases raise questions of the fugitives ... they are also frustrated."

He added that they believe most of the fugitives are still living in Bangladesh while some of them already left the country. They would again write to the government and different law enforcement agencies soon for taking special measures to arrest them.

Two war crimes tribunals have so far convicted 50 people for their wartime crimes. Of them, 22 are fugitives.

Eighty-six convicts and accused have been arrested in the war crimes cases, agency sources said.

PREVIOUS INITIATIVES

Following the request of the investigation agency, the government in February 2014 formed an eightmember monitoring cell, led by additional secretary of the home ministry, to secure the arrest of the fugitive convicts and war crimes accused.

But the cell largely remained inactive after holding only a single meeting, sources said.

As the number of fugitives continued to increase, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in May last year ordered the government to form a monitoring committee to secure the arrest of the fugitive convicts and accused.

The government in the same month formed a five-member committee comprising representatives of the Detective Branch and Special Branch of police, Rapid Action Battalion and the tribunal's investigation agency. A deputy inspector general of police was made the chief of the committee.

On September 14 last year, the tribunal's prosecution wrote to the home and law ministries, inspector general of police, all metropolitan police commissioners and police superintendents of all districts, seeking "strong measures" to immediately arrest the fugitives. However, these steps brought little change to the situation.