Two Bangladeshi nationals accused of murdering prominent Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Hadi have been arrested by police in India’s West Bengal state.
The suspects, identified as Faisal Karim Masud, also known as Rahul, aged 37, from Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and his associate Alamgir Hossain, aged 34, from Dhaka, were apprehended by the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police in the Bongaon area of North 24 Parganas district, near the India-Bangladesh border. The arrests occurred late on Saturday night, 7 March 2026, following intelligence inputs.
According to a statement from the West Bengal Police STF, the two men had illegally entered Indian territory after the murder and were attempting to take shelter in the border region with plans to return to Bangladesh. The suspects entered India through the Meghalaya border after the crime, before moving to various locations and eventually reaching the Bongaon area.
Preliminary interrogation reportedly revealed their involvement in the killing of Hadi, a vocal critic of India and a key figure in Bangladesh’s 2024 mass uprising that led to the ousting of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Osman Hadi, convenor of Inqilab Mancha and a student leader, was shot by masked assailants on 12 December 2025 near Box Culvert in Dhaka’s Paltan area while travelling in an auto-rickshaw. He succumbed to his injuries later at a hospital in Singapore.
Bangladeshi authorities had previously alleged that the perpetrators fled to India, a claim initially rejected by Indian officials. The arrests in West Bengal are seen as vindicating Dhaka’s position and mark a significant development in the high-profile case, which sparked widespread protests and unrest in Bangladesh following the killing.
A case has been registered against the two in India, and the pair were produced before a court on Sunday, 8 March, where they were remanded in police custody for 14 days for further questioning.
