Indian Police Arrest Two Bangladeshi Nationals in Connection with Student Leader Sharif Usman Hadi's Murder

New Delhi. Indian police have arrested two Bangladeshi nationals on charges of murdering a popular student leader in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Sharif Usman Hadi, a vocal critic of India who participated in the popular uprising that ousted then-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, was shot by masked assailants last year and later died in a Singapore hospital.

Bangladeshi police had stated that the killers fled to India after murdering Hadi, but Indian authorities maintained that the killers were not in India.

Police in India's West Bengal state, which borders Bangladesh, stated on Sunday that initial interrogation of the two Bangladeshi nationals in custody revealed their involvement in Hadi's murder.

A statement issued by the Indian police said, "There was 'credible secret information' that the pair had fled Bangladesh and entered India illegally. They were seeking refuge near the border area with the intention of returning to Bangladesh."

Violent protests erupted in Bangladesh following Hadi's death, and angry mobs set fire to several buildings, including two major newspapers considered pro-India and a prominent cultural institution.

Relations between India and Bangladesh further chilled after Hasina fled to India for asylum following the pro-democracy uprising. India's Ministry of External Affairs stated it rejects any 'false narrative' regarding New Delhi's involvement in Hadi's murder.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on their victory in the first parliamentary elections held last February following Hasina's departure.