Two Suspects in Youth Leader Hadi's Murder Case Fled to Meghalaya in India, Claim Bangladesh Police; BSF, Meghalaya Police Reject Claim

PTI, DHAKA, SHILLONG, DEC 28, 2025: Two primary suspects in the murder of Inquilab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi have fled Bangladesh and are believed to be currently in India, a top Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer said on Sunday. Hadi, 32, was shot in the head on December 12 during an election campaign in Dhaka. He was airlifted to Singapore for advanced treatment but died of his injuries on December 18.

“The suspects, Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh, crossed into the Indian state of Meghalaya with the help of local associates,” Additional Police Commissioner (Crime and Operations) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), S. N. Md Nazrul Islam, told a press conference at the DMP Media Centre. 

“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,” The Daily Star said, quoting Islam.

He added that the police have received informal reports suggesting that the two individuals who assisted the fugitives, Purti and Sami, have since been detained by authorities in India.

However, security agencies in Meghalaya on Sunday dismissed claims by the Bangladesh Police that the killers of Inquilab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi had entered the state.

The DMP officer said the Bangladesh government is actively working to bring the suspects back. "We are maintaining communication with Indian authorities through both formal and informal channels to ensure their arrest and extradition," he added. The DMP officer did not, however, mention when the two escaped to India.

There has been no reaction from Indian officials yet to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) claim about two suspects fleeing to Meghalaya, India. Meanwhile, security agencies in Meghalaya on Sunday dismissed claims by the Bangladesh Police that the killers of Inquilab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi had entered the state.

“The claims are unfounded and misleading,” BSF Chief in Meghalaya, Inspector General O. P. Opadhyay said.

A top Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer earlier in the day had said that two primary suspects in the Hadi murder case had crossed into Meghalaya via the Haluaghat border “with the help of local associates.”

"There is no evidence to suggest that any individual crossed the international border from the Haluaghat sector into Meghalaya. The BSF has neither detected nor received any report of such an incident," Opadhyay told PTI.

The claims being circulated are unfounded and misleading, said officials. A senior Meghalaya police officer also stated that there was "no input or intelligence to corroborate" the claim of the suspects' presence in the Garo Hills region. The officer added that local police units had not detected any such movement and that coordination with central agencies was ongoing.

BSF officials further stated that the personnel deployed along the international border have been kept on high alert at all times to avert any untoward incident, particularly in light of the unrest and volatile situation prevailing in the neighbouring country.