Body Of Awami Leader, Found In Meghalaya, Handed Over To Bangladesh Authorities, Kin

Ishaque Ali Panna’s lifeless body was found near the Indo-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, on the Indian side of the border. He was strangled to death, post-mortem reveals. (Image: X)

Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna’s decomposing body was found lying in a betel nut plantation in Meghalaya’s Dona Bhoi, which lies along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

The body of Bangladesh’s Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna, found decomposing earlier this week at a betel nut plantation in Meghalaya, has been handed over to the country’s authorities.

According to a report by Prothom Alo, the family members of the deceased leader were present at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Dawki – Tamabil for the handover along with Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) personnel, immigration police and other officials.

An official from Meghalaya told news agency PTI that Ishaque Ali Khan Panna was “throttled to death” and that there were injury marks on his head.

“According to the post-mortem examination report, Panna died of asphyxia. His windpipe was throttled. The Forensic Science Laboratory report will shed more light on this matter,” a senior government officer said.

“There were lacerated wounds on the body – on the lower right part of the orbital region and bruises on the forehead. These marks indicated he had struggled just before dying,” he further added.

The decomposed body of Panna was discovered by local people from a betel nut plantation at Dona Bhoi village in East Jaintia Hills district, about 1.5 km from the Bangladesh border, on August 26. The Awami League leader was identified through his passport.

The former Chhatra League leader reportedly lost his life while attempting to flee to India through the Dona border at Kanighat in Sylhet on the night of August 24, Bangladeshi news media reported.

He was a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League and a prominent member of the Awami League from Pirojpur district in the neighbouring country. He had been on the run following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5.