India arrests another suspect in Bangladesh uprising leader’s killing

India arrested the pair on March 8 and they remain in police custody. Read more at straitstimes.com.

KOLKATA - Indian police said on March 15 they had arrested a Bangladeshi man for allegedly helping two fellow nationals accused of murdering a popular student leader in Dhaka enter India illegally.

Mr Sharif Osman Hadi, a vocal India critic who took part in Bangladesh’s 2024 mass uprising, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka on Dec 12 and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.

West Bengal police named Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Hossain as the prime suspects in the killing and said they allegedly fled Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border with India shortly after Mr Hadi’s attack. India arrested the pair on March 8 and they remain in police custody.

On March 15, West Bengal’s Special Task Force Superintendent Indrajit Sarkar told AFP that Philip Sangma had been arrested on suspicion of helping Masud and Hossain enter the state of West Bengal through its porous border.

Sangma was “held on March 14 for facilitating the illegal entry of the two prime suspects in the murder of Bangladeshi youth activist (Sharif Osman) Hadi,” Mr Sarkar said, adding that he appeared in a district court on March 14 before being remanded to police custody for a week.

Mr Hadi’s death set off violent protests in Bangladesh, with angry mobs torching several buildings including two major newspapers deemed to favour India, as well as a prominent cultural institution.