Police have failed to confiscate the infamous terrorist group Islamic State (IS) logo-emblazoned praying caps, which two of the Holey Artisan attack case convicts were wearing after the announcement of the sensational case verdict on Wednesday.
Two of the death row convicts--Rakibul Islam Regan and Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi--wore the caps when they were hauled back into a van to be returned to prison from the court premises.
When contacted, Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Mustafa Kamal told Dhaka Tribune: "We could not find any caps when the convicts were taken back to the jail."
"We are investigating into the incident, and will be able to inform media after the probe team submits its report," he added.
Joint Commissioner Mahbub Alam of Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) also said they could not seize the caps.
"They (convicts) might have thrown away the caps from the prison van," he added.
As soon as a Dhaka court finished delivering the judgement in Bangladesh’s worst ever terrorist attack case yesterday, Rakibul Islam alias Regan wore an IS-emblazoned cap.
Rakibul still had the cap on when police brought him out of the courtroom and took him to a prison van. Inside the van, another death row convict Jahangir Alam alias Rajib Gandhi was seen wearing a similar cap.
But from where did the caps come from? That was the question that dominated everyone’s conversation both in court and on social media on Thursday.
Following the incident, a three-member committee headed by additional IG prisons was formed to investigate whether the jail authorities had any involvement in this matter.
The committee has been instructed to submit the probe report within five days.
Meanwhile, DMP has also formed a three-member probe committee led by DB’s Joint Commissioner (JC) Mahbub Alam on Thursday, to investigate the matter.
DB’s JC Mahbub Alam said that they have started the investigation, and will submit the investigation report within three days.
"The IS has no such cap. However, we are investigating why they wore the caps and how they got them," he said.
After doing a primary scrutiny, they have found out that the convicts brought the caps from the prison, he said, adding: "In general militants use hats; they might have been in their pockets."
