Soon after Rahman became PM, Bangladesh spy chief met top Indian intel officials

Sources said the intelligence chiefs met over a private dinner on March 2 where detailed discussions were held on intelligence-sharing and security partnership. India has strong security concerns related to anti-India activities in Bangladesh, and Delhi is keen to partner with the new government in Dhaka to counter such activities. There has been an assessment that the law and order situation in Bangladesh had deteriorated during the interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus. So, all eyes will be on how the cooperation on the security front plays out in the coming weeks and months.

A week later, on March 8, two Bangladeshi nationals accused in the murder of prominent Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Bin Hadi were arrested in West Bengal’s Bongaon area, the state’s Special Task Force (STF) said on Sunday.

Hadi died at a hospital in Singapore on December 18, 2025, six days after he was shot in the head in Dhaka on December 12.

The 32-year-old had emerged as a prominent youth leader during the 2024 student-led uprising in Bangladesh, which led to the former PM Sheikh Hasina losing power. Hadi was the co-founder and spokesperson of Inqilab Moncho, a political platform that had emerged following the July 2024 uprising.

His killing had become a major flashpoint in Bangladesh, leading to more protests and riots.

The accused Rahul (37), alias Faisal Karim Masud, and Alamgir Hossain (34), were apprehended from Bongaon in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. According to the police, Rahul is a resident of Patuakhali in Bangladesh, and Alamgir is a resident of Dhaka.

The Bangladesh government has now sought consular access to the two arrested individuals.

“We came to know yesterday that the two suspects in the Osman Hadi murder case were arrested in Kolkata. As they were taken to police remand for two weeks, we have sought consular access through our mission in Kolkata to ascertain their identities – since we don’t have adequate information about them,” Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters in Dhaka on Monday.

She said that the government would follow established rules and regulations for the extradition of the murder accused to ensure justice as India and Bangladesh had a treaty for the transfer of detainees.

“We would make all diplomatic efforts to bring them back to ensure justice for Hadi murder and expect cooperation from India in this regard,” the junior minister said.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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