Two Suspects in Osman Hadi Murder Escape to India via Meghalaya Border: Dhaka Police
Two key suspects in the killing of Bangladeshi political activist Osman Hadi escaped to India through the Meghalaya border following the attack, according to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. As reported by The Daily Star, authorities revealed this information during a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre.
Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam said the suspects—Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh—crossed into India via the Haluaghat border in the Mymensingh region with assistance from local collaborators. After entering India, they were reportedly received by a person identified as Purti, before being taken by a taxi driver named Sami to Tura town in Meghalaya.
Nazrul Islam stated that police have received informal information indicating that the individuals who helped the suspects may have been detained by Indian authorities, though official confirmation is still awaited. He added that Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies are in constant contact with their Indian counterparts through both formal and informal channels to facilitate the suspects’ arrest and extradition.
Osman Hadi was a well-known political leader, a strong critic of India and the Awami League, and a prominent figure in last year’s violent student-led protests, referred to as the July Uprising, which culminated in the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. After the uprising, Hadi formed a political platform called Inqilab Mancha and was preparing to contest the parliamentary elections scheduled for February.
Hadi was shot in the head by unidentified assailants in Dhaka on December 12. He was later airlifted to Singapore for medical treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries six days later.
His death sparked widespread unrest across Dhaka and other regions of Bangladesh. Mobs attacked and set fire to the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, as well as cultural organisations such as Chhayanat and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi. The violence also spread to central Bangladesh, where a Hindu factory worker was lynched by a mob in Mymensingh, further intensifying tensions in the aftermath of Hadi’s killing.
