Osman Hadi killing: Who are the two suspects Dhaka police say fled to India?

Additional Police Commissioner (Crime and Operations) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), S N Md Nazrul Islam, claimed that Osman Hadi's murder suspects, namely Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh, fled to India's Meghalaya from Bangladesh’s Haluaghat border in Mymensingh district, Bangladeshi English-language daily The Daily Star reported.

However, Meghalaya Police and Border Security Force (BSF) have refuted the allegations.

Osman Hadi's murder suspects

The suspects were initially met by an individual identified as Purti, Islam said. According to the report citing Islam, they were later transported to Tura town in Meghalaya by a taxi driver named Sami. The DMP official did not clarify when the two are believed to have reportedly fled to India.

Hadi’s supporters claimed that the primary suspect, whom they allege has ties to the Awami League, the party of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, had escaped to India.

Meghalaya police and BSF react

A senior police official said no formal or informal communication had been received from the Bangladesh police, and none of the accused named in the report had been traced or arrested in the Garo Hills, as per Hindustan Times. Meghalaya police officials added that neither Purti nor Sami had been identified anywhere in the state, describing the account as unverified and lacking coordination with Indian authorities.

Rejecting the claims, BSF (Meghalaya Frontier) IG OP Upadhayay said there was no evidence of anyone crossing the border from the Haluaghat sector, calling the allegations baseless and misleading.

Who was Osman Hadi?

Born in 1994 in Nalchity Upazila of Jhalokhati district, Hadi hailed from a Muslim family and was known for holding radical views. He rose to prominence during last year’s student-led uprising in Bangladesh that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, serving as a senior leader of the protest platform Inqilab Moncho.

Several reports described him as a vocal critic of India and a key figure in the July uprising. As per news agency ANI, the 32-year-old had recently announced his intention to contest the Dhaka-8 constituency in the upcoming elections as an independent candidate.

Hadi succumbed to injuries on 18 December after being shot on the head during an election campaign in Dhaka.

Meanwhile, the two South Asian neighbours have halted visa services in several cities, including Delhi, and traded accusations over lapses in the protection of their diplomatic missions.

Both countries have also called in each other’s high commissioners to formally convey their security concerns. Expressing concern, Riva Ganguly Das, a former Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka, told the BBC that she hoped tensions would not worsen, noting that the unstable situation in Bangladesh made future developments difficult to foresee.

As the interim government faces criticism for weak authority and limited legitimacy, there is widespread agreement that an elected administration would be better equipped to tackle Bangladesh’s internal and external challenges.

National elections are scheduled for 12 February.