India on Sunday firmly rejected claims by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police that two associates of the prime accused in the murder of Inqilab Manch spokesperson Osman Hadi had been arrested in Meghalaya, calling the assertions “false and fabricated”.
Senior officials from Meghalaya Police, the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian intelligence agencies said no arrests linked to the case had been made in the state and that no formal communication had been received from Bangladeshi authorities.
A senior official at Meghalaya Police headquarters said reports suggesting that two accused, Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh, had crossed into India from Bangladesh’s Haluaghat border and were hiding in Meghalaya were entirely untrue.
“No formal or informal communication has been received from Bangladesh police regarding this matter. None of the accused has been traced in the Garo Hills region, and no arrests have been carried out,” said a senior official of an Indian intelligence agency active in Meghalaya.
Bangladeshi police had claimed that the two men were assisted by local facilitators in Meghalaya, including a person identified as ‘Purti’ and a taxi driver named ‘Sami’, who allegedly helped them reach Tura. Indian authorities dismissed these allegations outright.
“Neither Purti nor Sami has been identified, traced, or arrested anywhere in Meghalaya. The story appears to have been constructed without any coordination or verification with Indian authorities,” a Meghalaya Police headquarters official said.
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The BSF also rejected the claims. Inspector General O.P. Upadhayay, BSF Meghalaya Frontier, said there was no evidence of any cross-border movement by the accused.
“There is no evidence whatsoever of these individuals crossing the international border from the Haluaghat sector into Meghalaya. No such incident has been detected or reported by the BSF. These claims are baseless and misleading,” Upadhayay said, adding that the force operates strictly on verified intelligence and established border management protocols.
The Indian response came hours after the Dhaka Metropolitan Police claimed a major breakthrough in the case. Addressing a press conference, DMP Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) N.N. Mohammad Nazrul Islam said two associates of the main accused, Faisal Karim alias Daud Khan, had been arrested in Meghalaya by Indian police.
Nazrul Islam said the investigation was nearing completion and that a charge sheet could be filed within seven to ten days, although he acknowledged that the motive for the killing remained unclear as the prime accused was still absconding.
Osman Hadi was shot in Dhaka on December 12 and later airlifted to Singapore for advanced treatment with government assistance. He succumbed to his injuries six days later.
Indian agencies said the circulation of unverified claims risked creating confusion and disturbing peace in Meghalaya, a sensitive border state.
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