The police in Bangladesh on Tuesday alleged that activist Sharif Osman Hadi was killed on the instructions of leaders linked to the now-banned political party, the Awami League and its student wing, the Chhatra League, Bangladeshi newspaper The Business Standard reported.
Police said that the killing was the result of “political vendetta”.
Additional Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch Mohammed Shafiqul Islam said that Hadi had criticised the past activities of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and the Chhatra League.
He was quoted as saying: “His outspoken remarks angered leaders and activists of Chhatra League and its affiliated organisations.”
“Considering the political identities of the accused and the victim’s previous political statements, the investigation has revealed that Hadi was shot dead due to political vendetta,” Islam was quoted as saying.
Hadi was a prominent leader in the 2024 student protest that led to the ouster of the earlier government headed by Hasina. Hadi was due to contest elections scheduled for February.
He was shot on December 12 while he was leaving a mosque in Dhaka. He died on December 18 at a hospital in Singapore, where he had been flown for treatment. His death led to unrest in parts of Bangladesh, including incidents of violence against minority communities.
On Tuesday, police also said that a chargesheet naming 17 persons as accused had been filed before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
Islam added that one of the accused persons, Faisal Karim Masud, was involved with the Chhatra League. The other accused Taijul Islam Chowdhury Bappi assisted Masud and another prime suspect, Alamgir Sheikh, in fleeing after the incident, the police officer was quoted by The Business Standard as saying.
So far, 12 persons have been arrested, while five remain at large, the police said.
The Bangladesh police had earlier claimed that Masud and Sheikh crossed into Meghalaya through the Haluaghat border area with the help of Indian residents and had taken refuge there.
On Tuesday, the police said the extradition process would begin after charges are formally framed by the court, the newspaper reported.
On December 29, the Indian Border Security Force had rejected the Bangladesh police’s claim.
Border Security Force’s chief in Meghalaya, Inspector General OP Upadhyay had said that “the claims are completely false, fabricated, and misleading, and there is no evidence to support them”.
“There has been no such cross-border movement from the Meghalaya sector, and even the Bangladesh Border Guard has not reported any such incident,” Upadhyay had said at the time.
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