Body handed over to family, to be repatriated to Bangladesh today
SHILLONG, Aug 30: Intrigued by the mysterious death of a Bangladeshi politician on Indian soil, Meghalaya government has decided to investigate how the politician, on the run, could defy the border vigil and entered the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, who holds the Home portfolio, said the government was “confused” about the whole incident. It was imperative that the facts get established.
“Our responsibility is only to hand over the body to the family,” Tynsong said, adding that the state government is confused about the entire episode.
Asked if there was any foul play, Tynsong said the details will be revealed only after the receipt of forensic test report.
He ruled out an NIA or any such high-level inquiry into the death of Ishaque Ali Khan Panna.
He said the BSF had told the state government that there was no question of any attempts to enter India whereas Bangladesh claimed Panna was trying to escape to India. “But two-three days later, his body was found 1.5 km inside Indian territory,” Tynsong said.
He added that the government will go for further investigation into the case.
Stating that night curfew along the international border in Meghalaya has continued and the BSF and the police have been directed to ensure that no one enters India, he wondered how someone’s body was found on the Indian side if there was no illegal border-crossing.
He said it could also be a possibility that Panna was killed in Bangladesh and his body was dumped in Meghalaya. He said the police and the BSF did not find any cash on the body.
Panna’s semi-decomposed body was recovered from a betel nut plantation near the India-Bangladesh border in East Jaintia Hills on August 26. The report of post-mortem confirmed that the death was due to “asphyxia caused by throttling”.
Panna’s identity was confirmed from his Bangladeshi passport that was recovered along with the body.
A police official informed that the body would be repatriated to Bangladesh on Saturday morning.
“The body was positively identified by the authorised person on Friday morning, and then the paperwork began as per the guidelines of the Ministry of External Affairs and also the Ministry of Home Affairs,” the official said on Friday.
“The body has been handed over to Panna’s family on completion of official formalities. The body will be repatriated to Bangladesh tomorrow morning through the Dawki border,” the official said.
Officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs are coordinating with their Bangladeshi counterparts to ensure a smooth repatriation process.
“We are in the process of repatriating the body to Bangladesh. We have authorised one person to take back the body through the Dawki border to Bangladesh,” an official of the Bangladesh High Commission in India said.
“We have completed all the formalities, and the BSF is also coordinating with the BGB for smooth movement of Panna’s body,” the official added.
Panna’s close friends and relatives from Kolkata and Bangladesh are coordinating with Indian officials for the repatriation of the body.
Some of them wanted their identity to be kept hidden due to the questionable circumstances leading to his death and discovery of the body. Some fear retribution from the radicals of Bangladesh for being close to the slain Awami League member.
With the process for repatriation of Panna’s body to Bangladesh under way, questions still remain unanswered, particularly the aspect surrounding the mysterious discovery of the body deep inside Indian territory and the disappearance of a huge cache of money in US dollar bills equivalent to Rs 3 crore in Indian value that Panna was carrying, as claimed by family sources.
The BSF, which is under fire due to the discovery of the body of a high-profile Bangladeshi politician deep inside the Indian territory, says efforts are on to unravel the facts into the incident.
Bangladesh media reports have claimed that Panna and Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, a retired judge of the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, attempted to cross into Meghalaya on August 24.
However, Manik was nabbed by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troopers.
Both Panna and Manik were attempting to flee Bangladesh as there was a threat to their lives after the Jamaat-e-Islami cadres began a killing spree targeting Awami League functionaries.
(With inputs from UNI)