According to Indian police, the former Bangladesh Chhatra League general secretary, Ishaq Ali Khan Panna, may have been murdered, as postmortem reports reveal he died from strangulation.
The police, as reported by NDTV, have identified the cause of death as asphyxia due to throttling. Initially, it was believed that Panna died after falling while climbing a mountain in Shillong, Meghalaya, during an attempt to flee to India.
The semi-decomposed body, found inside a betel nut plantation in Dona Bhoi village, East Jaintia Hills, on Monday, has been sent for forensic analysis, Meghalaya police said.
On Wednesday, Panna’s elder brother requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to repatriate the body from India.
Family sources indicated that Ishaq Ali Khan Panna had been hiding in Dhaka following the fall of Sheikh Hasina`s government before attempting to escape to India via Sylhet.
On the morning of August 24, he and a few others crossed into Meghalaya through the Tamabil area of Sylhet, reaching a mountain by 6 a.m. Panna reportedly experienced breathing difficulties and was unable to continue, which led to his death.
Other reports suggest he might have died while being pursued by the Border Security Force (BSF).
On the same day, a photo of Panna’s body with blood on his leg was circulated on social media, leading to expressions of grief from his relatives and party members.
Ishaq Ali Khan was the general secretary of the Chhatra League’s central committee in 1994 and later a member of the Pirojpur District Awami League. In 2014, he was nominated by the Awami League for the Pirojpur-2 constituency but had to withdraw due to a coalition agreement within the 14-party alliance.
