Indian officials deny Bangladesh police’s allegations about Hadi’s killers fleeing to Meghalaya

Indian official sources on Sunday (December 28, 2025) denied the allegation of the Bangladeshi police that the suspects in the killing of Islamist youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi had crossed over from Bangladesh to Meghalaya.

The Indian denial came soon after Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police S.N. Nazrul Islam said that two suspects in the December 12 shooting of Mr. Hadi — Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh had crossed into Meghalaya with the help of locals and that two of the local assistants of the suspects were in the custody of Indian authorities.

“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,” Mr. Islam said. He further said that both Purti and Sami had been detained by the authorities in Meghalaya.

“We are maintaining communication with Indian authorities through both formal and informal channels to ensure their arrest and extradition,” Mr. Islam.

However, diplomatic sources as well as senior officials in Meghalaya Police told The Hindu that the information shared by Mr. Islam was inaccurate. Mr. Hadi passed away in Singapore on December 18 while undergoing treatment for the bullet injury to his head. The death of Mr. Hadi, a popular figure who was one of the major mobilisers of the July-August 2024 uprising against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, triggered law and order problem and heightened inter-community tension with a spike in violence against Bangladesh’s minority communities.

(With inputs from Rahul Karmakar)