Meghalaya Police, BSF reject Bangladesh Police claim on Hadi killers’ entry

Security agencies in Meghalaya on December 28 firmly rejected claims by the Bangladesh Police that the killers of Inquilab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi had crossed into the state, calling the assertion baseless and misleading.

Inspector General O P Opadhyay, head of the Border Security Force in Meghalaya, said there was no evidence of any illegal cross-border movement from the Haluaghat sector into the state. “The BSF has neither detected nor received any report of such an incident,” he told PTI, adding that the claims being circulated were unfounded.

Earlier in the day, a senior officer of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police had alleged that two prime suspects in the murder had entered Meghalaya through the Haluaghat border with the help of local associates. The statement triggered heightened scrutiny along the international boundary.

A senior Meghalaya police official also dismissed the allegation, saying there was “no input or intelligence to corroborate” the presence of the suspects in the Garo Hills region. Local police units had not detected any such movement, the officer said, while coordination with central agencies remained ongoing.

BSF officials said border troops were on constant high alert, particularly in view of the volatile situation in neighbouring Bangladesh. They reiterated that the international border in the western sector of Meghalaya, including the Garo Hills, was under round-the-clock surveillance and any attempt at illegal crossing would be promptly detected and acted upon.

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 succumbed to his injuries on December 18. A spokesperson of Inquilab Moncho, Hadi had emerged as a prominent youth leader during the July–August 2024 mass street protests that led to the fall of the Awami League government headed by Sheikh Hasina. He was also a parliamentary candidate for the February 12 elections.

Meghalaya’s western sector shares a long and sensitive international border with Bangladesh, guarded by the BSF.