Hope for India-Bangladesh reset after arrests in student leader’s killing

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The development may provide an early test of bilateral cooperation following Bangladesh’s recent political transition, analysts say

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An activist holds a poster of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi during a rally in Dhaka in December 2025. Hadi died after he was shot in the head during an election campaign. Photo: AFP

Biman MukherjiIndian police have arrested two suspects in the killing of a prominent Bangladeshi student leader, a development analysts say could help ease strained ties between the neighbouring countries.

The detention of the two men over the death of Sharif Osman Hadi – whose killing last year triggered anti-India protests in Bangladesh – may provide an early test of cooperation between New Delhi and Dhaka following Bangladesh’s recent political transition.

Hadi was shot in the head last December during an election campaign and later died while being treated in a Singapore hospital.Advertisement

His death sparked speculation in Bangladesh that India was sheltering the killers, despite Delhi’s assurances that it would cooperate with authorities investigating the case.

On Sunday, Indian police said they had detained two suspects – Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Hossain – in the state of West Bengal, which borders Bangladesh, according to local media reports.

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“There was credible information that two Bangladeshi nationals, after committing serious crimes including extortion and murder in Bangladesh, had fled their country and illegally entered India, and were trying to take shelter in the border area of Bongaon with the intention of crossing back to Bangladesh,” police said in a statement.

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