Dhaka, Dec 28: Two prime suspects in the assassination of Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Hadi have fled to India through the Meghalaya border, Dhaka Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday, prompting Bangladesh to seek their extradition through formal and informal channels with Indian authorities.
Addressing a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre, Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam identified the suspects as Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh, who crossed into India via the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh with assistance from local associates.
“According to our information, the suspects entered India via the Haluaghat border. After crossing, they were initially received by an individual named Purti. Later, a taxi driver named Sami transported them to Tura city in Meghalaya,” Nazrul Islam stated.
The two suspects reportedly changed vehicles five times while traveling from Dhaka to the Bangladesh-India border. They first fled Dhaka to Aminbazar in an auto-rickshaw, where a car was waiting to take them to Kalampur, before being transported to the Mymensingh border area.
Police have received informal reports suggesting that both Purti and Sami, who allegedly assisted the suspects in crossing the border, have since been detained by Indian authorities, though official confirmation is awaited.
“We are maintaining communication with Indian authorities through both formal and informal channels to ensure their arrest and extradition,” the DMP official confirmed.
Osman Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen on December 12 in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area while leaving a mosque during an election campaign. He was initially treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital before being airlifted to Singapore for advanced medical care on December 15, where he succumbed to his injuries on December 18.
The 26-year-old was a prominent political figure and vocal critic of both India and the Awami League. He had been among the leaders of last year’s violent student-led July Uprising, which contributed to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Hadi’s assassination triggered widespread violence across Bangladesh. Mobs set fire to the offices of major newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, along with cultural organizations Chhayanat and Udichi Shilpi Goshthi in the capital. The unrest spread to central Bangladesh, where a Hindu factory worker was lynched by a mob in Mymensingh, further escalating tensions.
Before his death, Hadi had launched a political platform named Inqilab Mancha and was preparing to contest the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2026.
The Haluaghat crossing point in Mymensingh district, which shares its border with India’s Meghalaya state, is reportedly a key illegal entry and exit point between the two countries
