• Inqilab Moncho-led demos held across key highways in Dhaka, other major cities • Official says charge sheet to be filed within 10 days • Suspects ‘fled to India’: police DHAKA: Inqilab Moncho and allied groups staged simultaneous blockades across major highways and intersections in various cities across Bangladesh on Sunday, demanding justice for the killing of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Hadi, a vocal critic of India who took part in last year’s mass uprising, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka earlier this month and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore. Cities hit by the protests included Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Gazipur, Barishal, Cumilla and Khulna. Leaders and activists of Inqilab Moncho blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka for the third consecutive day on Sunday. “Statements from the administration are nothing but eyewash. They are simply trying to waste time. The perpetrators could have been arrested on the very day the shooting happened,” said Naim Islam, a central member of Inqilab Moncho. “The government must disclose to the public who is pressuring whom. They claim some people have been arrested, but the real killer must be brought to justice,” he added. “The interim government is determined to ensure justice for the [Hadi’s] killing,” he said, adding that police, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion, and intelligence agencies were working closely and in coordination to uncover the facts behind the murder. Pressure has been mounting on Bangladesh’s interim government to arrest the killers of Hadi, who was set to contest the general elections in February next year. Bangladesh’s home adviser, retired Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, said investigators were expected to submit the charge sheet in the popular student leader’s murder case within 10 days. He said authorities had made significant progress, but not everything could be disclosed at the moment to protect the integrity of the investigation and to identify both the perpetrators and those who backed them. He said 11 people have so far been arrested in the case, including the wife and parents of the alleged mastermind, Faisal Karim Masud. Among the arrestees, six gave confessional statements under Section 164, while four witnesses also gave statements under the same provision, the adviser said. Based on information from the arrestees, witness statements, reviews of recovered evidence and an overall assessment, the investigation is now in its final stage, he added. “I request everyone to remain patient,” he said, adding that a decision had already been made to transfer the case to a speedy trial tribunal. “I want to assure you that the trial in the Hadi murder case will be completed within the tenure of the current interim government.” ‘Fled to India’ Meanwhile, AFP quoted Bangladesh police as saying that Hadi’s suspected killers had fled to India, in comments likely to further strain relations with India. “The killing was premeditated. Those behind it have been identified,” Nazrul Islam, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer, said at a news conference He added that the suspects left Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border on Dec 12. “They were received at the border by two Indian citizens, who escorted them into the northeastern state of Meghalaya before handing them over to two accomplices.” Bangladeshi investigators were in contact with their Indian counterparts, who had arrested the two suspected accomplices, Islam said. Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2025