Another placed on remand over Hadi murder

A Dhaka court on Wednesday granted a five-day remand for Aminul Islam Raju, 37, for allegedly assisting and financing shooter Faisal Karim Masud, the main accused in the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi, convener of Inqilab Moncho, to hide across the border.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Junaid passed the order after police produced the accused before the court, seeking a ten-day remand.

According to the remand plea, Raju communicated with fugitive Philip through a relative after the shooting. He directly helped Faisal and the other accused to hide. Though he provided some information during initial questioning, he deliberately avoided many details. Intensive interrogation is necessary to uncover the main mystery of Hadi’s murder and to identify the whereabouts of the other accused.

On 12 December, Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho and a prospective independent candidate from the Dhaka-8 constituency, was shot and critically injured on Box Culvert Road under Paltan Model Police Station.

Hadi was also a notable figure in last year’s anti-fascist uprising that drove the Awami League government out of power.

Later, upon reviewing CCTV footage from the surrounding area, it was found that while Sharif Osman Hadi and his associate were travelling in a battery-operated auto-rickshaw, two unidentified assailants arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on Osman Hadi with the intent to kill.

Osman Hadi was seriously injured in the shooting and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. After surgery there, he was transferred to Evercare Hospital. Subsequently, on 15 December, he was sent to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he later died.

Police later claimed that after reviewing the footage, they identified Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh as the attackers, with Faisal firing the shots and Alamgir driving the motorcycle.

On 14 December, Javed, member secretary of Inqilab Moncho, filed a case with Paltan Model Police Station over the incident.