SHARIFUL ISLAM and SIRAJUL ISLAM RUBEL

More than two-thirds of the accused, including a dozen high-profile figures, are absconding in 27 cases filed with the International Crimes Tribunal over crimes against humanity during the July mass uprising and enforced disappearances under the 15-year rule of the Awami League government.

Law enforcers have managed to arrest only 73 out of the 206 accused after the ICT issued warrants for their arrests. One of the accused died in custody, said the office of the ICT chief prosecutor.

Of the cases, 22 were filed over killings during the mass uprising that left, according to a UN report, over 1,400 dead and several thousand wounded. The remaining five cases are related to enforced disappearances.

At least four prosecutors and an investigator at the ICT said many of the accused had gone into hiding after information on the issuance of arrest warrants was leaked. “These accused received information on the warrant before police could act,” said one of the prosecutors seeking anonymity.

A senior official from the ICT’s investigation agency explained that once warrants are issued, they are sent to police stations concerned for execution. “But in many cases, the accused go into hiding even before the notices reach police stations.”

Asked, Enamul Haque Sagar, assistant inspector general (media) at the police headquarters, said police are hunting for the absconding accused. “Some of them fled the country even before arrest warrants were issued.”

The National Central Bureau of Bangladesh Police has already requested Interpol to issue Red Notices for ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 11 others following court directives.

The others are former ministers Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, AKM Mozammel Haque, Hasan Mahmud, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel; ex-state ministers Mohammad A Arafat and Nasrul Hamid Bipu; former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, and Hasina’s ex-defence and security adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique.

“Interpol is now reviewing the Red Notice requests. We are in constant touch with it,” Sagar said, adding that the international police organisation has already issued a Red Notice for ex-IGP Benazir Ahmed over a corruption case.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action, according to the Interpol website.

FRUSTRATION OF VICTIMS’ FAMILIES

Rabiul Awal, brother of Imam Hasan Tayyem who was killed during

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