Osman Hadi killing: Prime accused denies role in murder, claims he is in Dubai

Prime accused in the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi has denied any involvement in the murder case in a video message which has gone viral on social media platforms.

Faisal Karim Masud has claimed that he is currently in Dubai, UAE alleging that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is responsible for Hadi's death.

In the video, he says, "I did not kill Hadi. Me and my family are being implicated. I have come to Dubai to save myself from the witch hunt."

"Hadi is a product of Jamat. Jamatis may have been behind it."

Faisal asserted that his association with Hadi was strictly business-related.

He also acknowledged to making political donations to Hadi but revealed that they were made in exchange for promised government contracts and didn't have anything to do with criminal activities.

A report by CNN-News18 which accessed Masud's UAE visa documents, revealed that the prime accused holds a five-year multiple entry UAE visa and is on a long-term tourism visa for now.

Hadi's brother had alleged that a section within the interim government of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had plotted the killing.

Hadi was shot in the head by masked gunmen on December 12 in Dhaka. Six days later, he died at a Singapore hospital.

Earlier a top Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer said that two primary suspects in the murder case have fled Bangladesh and are believed to be currently in India.

“The suspects, Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh, crossed into the Indian state of Meghalaya with the help of local associates,” Additional Police Commissioner (Crime and Operations) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) S N Md Nazrul Islam told a press conference at the DMP Media Centre.

Security agencies in Meghalaya have dismissed claims by the Bangladesh Police that Hadi's killers had entered the state.

The claims are unfounded and misleading, BSF chief in Meghalaya, Inspector General O P Opadhyay said.

"There is no evidence to suggest that any individual crossed the international border from the Haluaghat sector into Meghalaya. The BSF has neither detected nor received any report of such an incident," Opadhyay said.

A senior Meghalaya police officer also said that there was "no input or intelligence to corroborate" the claim of the suspects' presence in the Garo Hills region.