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Avijit Roy, an engineer of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to
death by machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 while
returning home with his wife from a Dhaka book fair. His wife,
blogger Rafida Bonya Ahmed, suffered head injuries and lost a
thumb in the attack.
Five members of an Islamist militant group were sentenced to
death last year, while one was jailed for life.
Two of those on death penalty escaped on Sunday, after bikers
sprayed chemical on the police before snatching away the
convicts, police said.
"A massive manhunt has been launched to capture them and their
helpers," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters, adding
that border security officials had been put on alert to stop the
men fleeing the country.
Police has also announced an award of two million taka (about
$19,350) for tracing the convicts.
The convicted men belong to the al Qaeda-inspired domestic
militant group Ansar Ullah Bangla Team and police say the group
was behind the murders of more than a dozen secular activists
and bloggers.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh saw a string of deadly attacks
between 2013 and 2016 targeting bloggers, secular activists and
religious minorities, claimed by Islamic State or al
Qaeda-aligned groups.
($1 = 103.3500 taka)
(eporting by Ruma Paul; writing by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by
Stephen Coates)
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