The West Bengal Police on Monday issued a formal rebuttal to circulating social media posts alleging that the state’s Special Task Force (STF) had detained several Bangladeshi nationals in connection with the high-profile killing of Inqalab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
In an official statement addressing the misinformation, the Bengal Police said, “We have noticed some posts on social media claiming that the West Bengal Police STF (Special Task Force) has detained several citizens of a neighboring country in connection with a recent incident there. This news is completely baseless. Please refrain from spreading rumors.”
The police clarification comes amid heightened sensitivities over misinformation and cross-border criminal accusations that have circulated widely online and in parts of the press.
This comes amid the ongoing buss about the arrest of suspects in killing of Hadi from Meghalaya, a claim countered by Indian officials.
According to unsubstantiated claims by Dhaka Metropolitan Police, alleged helpers of those accused in the Sharif Osman Hadi murder- Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh- had fled from Bangladesh to India using a “help of locals through safe passage”, adding that they were currently detained in Meghalaya by Indian security agencies.
Meghalaya top police source, who requested anonymity, dismissed assertions that suspects or facilitators had entered Indian territory or been detained there as “unfounded and misleading,” with no evidence detected of any illegal cross-border movement. Also, top BSF official stated that their surveillance along the Haluaghat border sector showed no such incidents, and that local forces had no intelligence corroborating the Bangladesh Police’s claims.
“On Bangladesh's media report claiming two accused in student leader Sharif Osman Hadi's murder had entered India. Such claims are completely false, fabricated, and misleading, and there is no evidence to support them. Just three days ago, Bangladeshi media quoted an IG-rank officer stating that no such evidence existed. Now, a DIG-level officer has made contradictory remarks. It was alleged that Meghalaya Police apprehended the individuals, but upon verification, Meghalaya Police denied these claims. All reports in the Bangladeshi media are incorrect. There has been no such cross-border movement from the Meghalaya sector, and even the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) has not reported any such incident. The BGB is a highly professional force. The claim that the individuals entered India from a location nearly 300 km from Dhaka, despite extensive CCTV surveillance and checkpoints in Bangladesh, is highly implausible. Therefore, the allegations are highly unlikely, totally false and fabricated,” BSF chief in Meghalaya, Inspector General OP Upadhyay, told ANI.
The conflicting narratives centre on the December shooting of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader and spokesperson for the Bangladesh political platform Inqalab Moncho, who was shot in broad daylight in Dhaka on December 12, 2025. Hadi was later airlifted to Singapore for medical care but died from his injuries on December 18, rekindling widespread protests and violent unrest across Bangladesh.
