An intelligence investigation has uncovered details of a carefully planned mission behind the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of the Inqilab Platform and a prospective candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency. After returning to the country from abroad, a “shooter team” was deliberately formed. To carry out the target, familiarity was first established, and then—within just seven days—a deadly attack was executed.

The main accused, Faisal, left the country within 12 hours of shooting Hadi. As per the plan, crucial evidence was also made to disappear. The acquaintance and closeness between Osman Hadi and shooter Faisal began at the Inqilab Platform’s Cultural Center. Analysis of more than a hundred CCTV footages and intelligence reports shows where the shooters tracked Hadi before the attack and how they carried out the plan step by step.

On December 4 at 8:18 p.m., shooter Faisal and his associate Kabir arrived at the Inqilab Cultural Center in Banglamotor. The roughly six-minute meeting was essentially the first step in building closeness with Hadi. During the meeting, Faisal proposed working with him.

On the night of December 9, Faisal returned to the Cultural Center. This time, Kabir was not with him; his new companion was Alamgir. The discussion focused on election campaign planning. From there, Faisal entered Hadi’s team. The next day, December 12, he directly participated in Hadi’s campaign in Segunbagicha.

Soon after joining the campaign, shooter Faisal finalized the plan to kill Hadi. To execute the mission, he conducted reconnaissance in various areas, including Narsingdi, Savar, and Manikganj. On December 11, as part of the preparations, he stayed at his sister’s apartment in West Agargaon. On the morning of the attack, he took an Uber to a resort in Hemayetpur.

CCTV footage from the resort shows that at 5:22 a.m. on Friday, the car carrying Faisal and Alamgir entered the Green Zone Resort. Faisal’s girlfriend, Maria, and her sister were already there. Showing his girlfriend a video of Hadi, Faisal told her that he planned to shoot Hadi in the head and that it would cause nationwide shock. He instructed her to cut off all communication with him after the incident.

At 8:54 a.m., Faisal left the resort with his girlfriend, while Alamgir was waiting outside. They dropped her off in Badda using an Uber. At 11:05 a.m., Faisal and Alamgir left the Agargaon apartment on a motorcycle and went straight to Hadi’s campaign in Segunbagicha, arriving around 11:45 a.m. After the campaign ended, at 12:22 p.m., Hadi set off toward Motijheel, and the shooters began following his auto-rickshaw from behind.

At 12:50 p.m., the auto-rickshaw carrying Hadi reached in front of Jamia Darul Ulum Mosque in Motijheel. After Alamgir parked the motorcycle, both men got down and again joined the campaign activities.

Hadi performed the Friday prayers at the Darul Ulum Mosque, after which he was supposed to campaign there. Two members of the shooter team had also joined that campaign. When Hadi left the area at 2:16 p.m., the shooters followed him. Taking the opposite route via Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, turning right at the Daily Bangla intersection, they entered Paltan’s Box Culvert Road. After searching for an empty spot for about two and a half hours, at 2:24 pm. Faisal fired two shots at Hadi from close range.

Immediately after the incident, their escape plan began. They fled via Bijoynagar, Kakrail, and Shahbagh, crossed Farmgate, and reached Faisal’s sister’s apartment in West Agargaon. They arrived there at 3:00 p.m., and the situation became more complicated. Just then, a man came to inquire about renting the apartment and rang the doorbell. In panic, Faisal dropped the bag containing the weapon downstairs and threw his mobile phone onto the neighboring building’s roof. When they tried to flee, leaving the weapon and motorcycle behind, complications arose, and family members became aware of the situation. Faisal’s parents then became involved in destroying evidence.

At 3:19 p.m., Faisal’s father arrived at the parking area with bike rider Alamgir, bringing the motorcycle’s original number plate. The fake plate was removed and replaced with the original. The motorcycle, along with Alamgir, was then kept in the garage of a neighboring building. Later, a ladder was used to lower Faisal’s nephew between the two buildings to retrieve the bag lying below, and the nephew was also sent to retrieve the mobile phone thrown onto the neighboring roof. To arrange his son’s escape, Faisal’s father hired an auto-rickshaw.

At 4:54 p.m., Faisal traveled by CNG from West Agargaon to Aminbazar. From there, he took an Uber to Kalampur in Dhamrai, then a hired private car via Nabinagar to Gazipur’s Chandra–Maona area, eventually reaching Mymensingh. From there, they went to the Dharabazar petrol pump in Haluaghat. CCTV footage from the pump shows that at 11:31 p.m., the private car carrying the shooters arrived there. Human trafficker Philip Snal arrived on a motorcycle to receive them and took them toward the border.

According to statements from two of Philip’s associates who were arrested by police, the shooters fled to India through the Bhutiapara border. IP address data from shooter Faisal’s phone shows that on Wednesday, his location was in Maharashtra, India, and that he was using a Reliance SIM card.

There was also a carefully planned scheme to make the evidence disappear after the killing. The bag containing the weapons was handed to brother-in-law Shipu, who gave it to his friend Faisal; he then dumped the bag in the Tarabo Canal in Narsingdi. Faisal’s wife fled Dhaka and went into hiding in Narsingdi, while his parents went into hiding in Kamrangirchar.

DMP spokesperson Muhammad Talebur Rahman said that before and after the incident, the main suspect, Faisal, remained in contact with his family. All information is being verified, and efforts are underway to identify others involved in the incident.

Although the two main accused are still at large, the investigation has revealed the full blueprint of the murder. Investigators say that Faisal Karim returned to the country last July and launched the killing mission with Kamal, Rubel, and Mainuddin. All of them have been identified as leaders of the now-banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations. Early in the investigation, the motorcycle used in the killing was identified and its owner arrested; it was later discovered that the bike had a fake number plate. The motorcycle was recovered in an operation by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit.

Muhammad Talebur Rahman said the motorcycle changed hands eight times in a short period before reaching a person named Shuvo. Investigators are examining how the shooters obtained it from Shuvo.

Brother-in-law Shipu, wife Samia, and girlfriend Maria have been arrested on charges of assisting in the murder. After arresting Faisal’s parents in Kamrangirchar, two firearms were recovered from the Tarabo wetland based on their information. The private car driver, Nuruzzaman, was also arrested. Later, bullets and a magazine of the 7.65-caliber pistol used to shoot Hadi were recovered from beneath Faisal’s sister’s apartment. Checks worth several hundred crore taka were also recovered. The investigation is now raising a critical question: was such a huge amount of money meant solely for killing Hadi, or were there plans for additional killing missions as well?