Gunshot-injured Sharif Osman Hadi, convener of the Inquilab Mancha and one of the organisers of the July uprising, died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on Friday night. He breathed his last at around 9:30pm Bangladesh time, according to party sources.
Inquilab Mancha member-secretary Abdullah Al Jaber confirmed the death citing information received from Hadi’s elder brother Omar, who was accompanying him in Singapore. Jaber said doctors could not perform surgery as Hadi’s condition remained unstable.
Later at 11:20pm, interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, in an address to the nation, expressed deep condolences over Hadi’s death. He announced national mourning for Saturday and urged people to remain calm and patient.
Following the news, protests erupted in Dhaka and other parts of the country, with students and July uprising fighters taking to the streets.
Hadi, who was vocal against what he described as Indian hegemony and was aspiring to contest as an independent candidate from Dhaka-8 in the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections, was shot in the head on December 12 while campaigning in the city.
Earlier on Friday, his family had approved surgery in Singapore as his condition was described as ‘very critical’. Various political parties and organisations, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, National Citizen Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, expressed condolences over his death.
Meanwhile, police, in a remand petition for Sivion Dio and Sanjay Chisim—accused of helping people cross the border illegally—said the duo assisted prime accused Faisal Karim Masud and his associates in fleeing to India. The claim was based on interrogation and technological evidence, the petition added.
Protests demanding the immediate arrest of the perpetrators and the resignation of home adviser retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury continued on Thursday. Demonstrators accused the authorities of failing to ensure arrests despite the passage of time.
The interim government’s advisory council discussed Hadi’s health condition on Thursday, stating in a press release that it remained extremely critical. It also said Singapore foreign minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan had been in regular contact with Professor Yunus, while a senior Bangladeshi foreign ministry official was overseeing treatment in Singapore.
On Thursday afternoon, the Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Branch produced Sivion Dio and Sanjay Chisim before a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate’s court, which granted three days’ remand each for interrogation in the attempted murder case. Police sought further remand to identify planners, financiers and accomplices, and to recover weapons used in the attack.
Hadi had been airlifted to Singapore on Monday for advanced treatment at Singapore General Hospital. Inquilab Mancha had earlier warned of continued protests and a possible countrywide shutdown if those responsible were not arrested, and urged diplomatic engagement with India if suspects had fled there.
Law enforcers have so far arrested at least 10 people in connection with the December 12 attack. Police believe the main suspects, including alleged shooter Faisal Karim Masud and motorcycle rider Alamgir Sheikh, fled to India through the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh.
Hadi was shot in the Box Culvert area of Bijoynagar while campaigning, a day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections and a national referendum slated for February 12, 2026.
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