Who is Faisal Karim Masud, prime suspect behind assassination of Sharif Osman Hadi?

New Delhi: Bangladesh has been reeling with uncertainty and strife since the killing of young leader and activist Sharif Osman Hadi. The authorities have now reportedly identified the alleged shooter, issuing a nationwide lookout notice for the prime suspect Faisal Karim Masud. A Dhaka court on Sunday reportedly barred Faisal Karim Masud from leaving Bangladesh.

According to The Telegraph, Faisal Karim Masud was a leader of the currently-banned Chhatra League, the student wing of the ousted Awami League, the political party of ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina. While now the prime accused, Masud had reportedly participated in Osman Hadi’s election campaign along with another suspect, identified as motorcycle rider Alamgir, reported the media house, citing a local journalist.

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This was not Masud’s first criminal act, as he had a year earlier been apprehended by the police in connection with an armed robbery at a school in Dhaka. Another piece of information that has come out in local reports is that Masud had told his girlfriend that something ‘big’ was going to happen. “It would be something that would shake the entire country,” Faisal told Maria, reported Dhaka-based Jamuna Television. “Something will happen tomorrow (on Friday), that the whole country will tremble,” newspaper Daily Jugantor quoted Faisal as saying.

Popular student leader of Bangladesh Osman Hadi died last week after succumbing to gunshot injuries sustained in an assassination attempt in Dhaka. The attack reportedly took place on December 12, when two assailants on a motorcycle shot Hadi in the head while he was travelling in a rickshaw.

A prominent figure in Bangladesh’s 2024 student-led uprising, Hadi served as spokesperson for Inqilab Mancha. He was also preparing to contest the Dhaka-8 constituency in Bijoynagar in the next general elections. The cause of his assasination is thus being seen as being related to his political aspirations.

Nonetheless, a popular figure in Bangladesh, his death has not gone down well with his supporters. Known for his sharp criticism of India and of Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Hadi had in a short time gained enormous popularity.

Hadi’s death has triggered massive unrest across Bangladesh. Subsequent to his death, protests erupted in several cities as supporters and student groups demanded swift arrests and justice. Last week for example, a mob attacked the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star at Karwan Bazar. A Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was aslo lynched in Mymensingh on Thursday night. The authorities are now under pressure to find those responsible for Hadi’s assassination.