Police still unsure whether Osman Hadi's killers have left the country

Police are still unsure whether Faisal Karim Masud, the main accused in the murder case of Inqilab Manch spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, and his associate Alamgir Sheikh have fled the country to another country. Md. Shafiqul Islam, head of the Detective Branch (DB), the investigating agency in the case, said that the investigation is still ongoing to identify the whereabouts of the main suspects.

When asked about the matter on Sunday, the DB chief said that they have seen the claim that they have fled to India on social media and are verifying it. However, no confirmed information has been received in this regard yet.

Meanwhile, the agitators have demanded the resignation of the interim government's Home Affairs Advisor, retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury and the Chief Advisor's Special Assistant Khoda Baksh Chowdhury if they are not able to provide clear information about the whereabouts of the killers by the evening of December 21. In this situation, a press conference has been called at the secretariat on Sunday evening.

Ministry sources said that senior officials of the law enforcement agencies, including the Home Affairs Advisor, will be present at the press conference and will present the latest progress in the investigation into the Hadi murder case. DB chief Md. Shafiqul Islam, as the head of the investigating agency in the case, is also expected to be present there.

The DB chief said that significant progress has been made in the investigation of the case in the last eight days. He said, "Who committed the murder and the weapons and motorcycles used have already been recovered. Several accused are being arrested and interrogated."

Police officials said that Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh were involved in the politics of the banned Chhatra League. A dozen people have been arrested so far in the Hadi murder case, including the main accused's father, mother, wife, brother-in-law and a girlfriend.

DB sources said that Masud spoke to his wife, girlfriend and brother-in-law on mobile phones several times before shooting Hadi. Three of them have been remanded in two phases for a total of 9 days in this incident. In addition, eight more people have been arrested on charges of cooperation before and after the attack.

Two members of the human trafficking gang have also been arrested after the investigation found information that they escaped through the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh. The DB chief said that the investigation is progressing further after their interrogation.

Earlier, on December 14, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that no information was found in the immigration database that the attackers on Hadi had left the country legally. It was also said that the suspects do not have the opportunity to leave the country legally as their passports have been blocked. However, the police still do not have any confirmed information about whether they crossed the border illegally and went to another country.

It is worth noting that Sharif Osman Hadi was seriously injured in a shooting in Dhaka on December 12. He was sent to Singapore for better treatment, but he died while undergoing treatment on December 18. After the funeral on Saturday, he was buried next to the tomb of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at Dhaka University.