Former Bangladesh Chhatra League general secretary, Ishaq Ali Khan Panna, may have been murdered, according to Indian police, as postmortem reports indicate that he died from strangulation.
The cause of death was identified as asphyxia caused by throttling, police said, as quoted by NDTV.
Panna was initially believed to have died after falling while climbing a mountain in Shillong, Meghalaya, during an attempt to flee to India.
The semi-decomposed body, which was reportedly found inside a betel nut plantation in East Jaintia Hills' Dona Bhoi village on Monday, has been sent for forensic analysis, Meghalaya police said.
On Wednesday, the elder brother of Ishaq Ali Khan Panna applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to repatriate his body from India.
Family sources reported that Ishaq Ali Khan Panna had been in hiding in Dhaka following the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government.
He later attempted to escape to India via Sylhet.
On August 24 morning, he and a few others crossed into Meghalaya through the Tamabil area of Sylhet, reaching a mountain by 6am.
He reportedly experienced breathing difficulties and was unable to continue, leading to his death.
Other reports also suggest that he might have died while being chased by the Border Security Force (BSF).
On the same day, a photo of Ishaq Ali Khan’s body with blood on his leg was circulated on social media, prompting 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 the coalition agreement of the 14-party alliance.
