BSF, Meghalaya Police deny DMP's claim on Hadi murder suspects’ arrest

Meghalaya Police and Border Security Force (BSF) officials on Sunday categorically denied Dhaka Metropolitan Police's claim that suspected killers of Sharif Osman Hadi had crossed into Meghalaya and that any arrests had taken place there.

Indian Police officers told The Telegraph, a local daily, there had been “no detention nor arrest of anybody” entering the state from across the border, as claimed by reports from Dhaka.

They, however, added that they were “verifying” the reports and preparing to take any action deemed necessary.

News agency PTI quoted BSF inspector-general (Meghalaya) O.P. Upadhyay as saying there was “no evidence to suggest that any individual crossed the international border from the Haluaghat sector into Meghalaya”. He described the claims from Dhaka as “unfounded and misleading”.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) yesterday (Sunday) claimed that two prime suspects in Hadi’s murder — Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh — had “crossed into the Indian state of Meghalaya with the help of local associates”. The duo were said to have crossed the border from Haluaghat in Mymensingh.

Masked assassins had shot Hadi, 32, spokesperson for the Inqilab Moncho and an immensely popular youth leader, in the head on December 12 during an election rally in Dhaka. He died on December 18 in Singapore, where he was receiving advanced treatment.

His death unleashed a fresh round of violence in Bangladesh, inflaming the situation ahead of the general election scheduled for February 12, which Hadi had planned to contest.

Additional commissioner S.N. Nazrul Islam of the DMP as saying: “According to our information, the suspects (in Hadi’s murder) 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.”

Islam further said that, the police had “received informal reports suggesting the two individuals who assisted the fugitives, Purti and Sami, have since been detained by authorities in India”. It added that the Bangladesh government was “maintaining communication with Indian authorities through both formal and informal channels to ensure their (the two suspects’) arrest and extradition”.

The South Garo Hills and West Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya border the Mymensingh and Sherpur districts of Bangladesh, respectively. The distance between the South Garo Hills headquarters, Baghmara, and the West Garo Hills headquarters, Tura, is about 113km.

An official in Tura told this newspaper that no arrest had been made (in Meghalaya) “in connection with the assassination” of Hadi.

BSF sources from Meghalaya, where the agency guards a 443km stretch of the India-Bangladesh border, said they were in a state of high alert, because of the unrest in the neighbouring country, to prevent any cross-border movement.

The Inqilab Moncho staged widespread blockades in Bangladesh on Sunday demanding justice for Hadi. On Saturday, the DMP had said that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the murder.