Violence erupted in Bangladesh’s capital early on Friday after Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in last year’s pro-democracy uprising, died in a hospital in Singapore following an assassination attempt. His body arrived in Dhaka on Friday evening.
Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Dhaka after news of the 32-year-old activist’s death, demanding the arrest of his killers. Several buildings, including offices housing the country’s two leading newspapers, were set on fire, trapping journalists and staff inside, authorities said.
Hadi, a senior leader of the student protest group Inqilab Mancha, was shot by masked assailants on December 12 as he was leaving a mosque in Dhaka. After initial treatment in Bangladesh, he was airlifted to Singapore in critical condition, where he died on Thursday.
Multiple cases of arson were reported across the capital as news of his death spread, a spokesperson for the Fire Brigade and Civil Defence said.
According to police, alleged radical right-wing activists set fire to the main office of the left-leaning Udichi Shilpigoshthi in the capital shortly after Sharif Osman Hadi’s body arrived in Dhaka.
Protesters also hurled bricks and stones at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram at around 1:30 am, but caused no damage. Police dispersed the crowd using tear gas and baton charges and detained 12 protesters, while senior officials later assured the diplomat of security.
Fires broke out at buildings housing the English-language Daily Star and the Bengali-language Prothom Alo, the country’s largest newspapers.
The papers have previously faced protests from groups accusing them of being aligned with India, where former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been living in self-imposed exile since being ousted in last year’s uprising.
'You are killing me'
Firefighters brought the blaze at the Daily Star building under control at around 1:40 am (local time), officials said, though dozens of employees were still inside at the time. Staff were later evacuated.
Zyma Islam, a Daily Star reporter, said she was trapped inside the burning building. “I can't breathe anymore. There's too much smoke. I am inside. You are killing me,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We took refuge at the rear of the building and could hear them chanting slogans,” Daily Star reporter Ahmed Deepto said.
Elsewhere, the residence of Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, a former education minister in the ousted Awami League government, was vandalised and set on fire overnight by protesters demanding justice for Osman Hadi, local media reported.
In the northwestern city of Rajshahi, protesters used an excavator to demolish an Awami League office, calling for the arrest of those responsible for the killing of Inqilab Mancha founder.
Protesters also attacked Chhayanaut, a leading cultural institution in Dhaka devoted to Bengali culture, while elsewhere crowds blocked a key highway out of the capital.
Witnesses said demonstrators gathered at Shahbagh Square near Dhaka University, chanting slogans including “Allahu Akbar”, with similar protests reported in other parts of the country.
In a separate incident, a Hindu man was beaten to death in Bhaluka in Mymensingh district over alleged blasphemy, police said.
The deceased, identified as 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das, was a factory worker in Mymensingh city, the Bangla Tribune news portal reported.
The interim government condemned the lynching, saying that there is no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh and that the perpetrators will not be spared.
Police said the victim was beaten by a mob over blasphemy allegations on Thursday night, hanged from a tree, and later set on fire on the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway, disrupting traffic. His body was sent to Mymensingh Medical College for autopsy, as authorities moved to control tensions after the incident video went viral.
Condemning violence and hate, the government urged citizens to reject incitement, referencing the killing of July Uprising leader Hadi. Attacks on Hindu minorities have risen since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
Yunus announces mourning
Earlier Friday, Singapore’s foreign ministry confirmed Hadi’s death.
“Despite the best efforts of the doctors..., Mr Hadi succumbed to his injuries,” it said in a statement.
Bangladesh’s interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, confirmed the death shortly afterwards. “His demise is an irreparable loss for the nation,” Yunus said in a televised address.
“The country's march toward democracy cannot be halted through fear, terror, or bloodshed.”
Hadi was an outspoken critic of both Hasina and India. He had planned to run as an independent candidate in the next national elections, scheduled for February 2026, in a major Dhaka constituency.
His family has demanded that a memorial be constructed in his honour at Shahbagh where he initiated the movement leading to a regime change in the country.
The time of Hadi's funeral has been changed to 2 pm, the press wing of the interim government of Bangladesh has announced.
It said the funeral prayer will be held at the South Plaza of the National Parliament Building at 2 pm on Saturday. Earlier, it was announced that the funeral prayer would be held at 2:30 pm.
Those wishing to attend the janaza have been specially requested not to carry any bags or heavy items.
In a social media post, Inqilab Mancha said, "Upon the family's wishes, a decision has been taken to bury Hadi beside the grave of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and to hold his funeral prayer after Zuhr tomorrow at Manik Mia Avenue."
The party also announced that there will be no public viewing of the body, and people were requested to pray for Hadi while maintaining order.
Manhunt for gunmen
Police have launched a manhunt for Hadi’s attackers, releasing photographs of two suspects and offering a reward of five million taka (about $42,000) for information leading to their arrest.
Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the interim administration until elections, has described the shooting as a premeditated attack carried out by a powerful network seeking to derail the vote.
Authorities have said they believe the shooter may have fled to India, comments that triggered a diplomatic row. New Delhi summoned Bangladesh’s envoy this week to protest the remarks, while Dhaka also called in India’s ambassador seeking clarification.
Meanwhile, Tripura chief minister Manik Saha said on Friday that his government is ready to deal with any situation amid the ongoing violent protests in neighbouring Bangladesh following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi.
"All of us know under what circumstances, elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had to leave her country. After Hasina's ouster, fundamentalists, criminals and thieves walked free from jails in Bangladesh. What we had anticipated is now happening in the neighbouring," the chief minister told the reporters.
Security has been tightened at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi following violent protests in Bangladesh over the death of prominent leader Sharif Osman Hadi, a senior police officer said on Friday, news agency PTI reported.
The officer said security was intensified on Thursday night and warned that any attempt to breach law and order would not be tolerated.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told BBC Bangla on Friday that recent incidents of mobs, vandalism and arson targeting various locations across the country are part of a broader conspiracy to destabilise Bangladesh.
Condemning the killing of Hadi, he said, "We think these mobs, attacks and acts of vandalism surrounding this incident are all part of a blueprint."
"Through these activities, there is an attempt to establish extremism in Bangladesh," he said.
The US Embassy in Dhaka on Friday issued an advisory, urging American citizens in Bangladesh to exercise caution, warning that "gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence".
The mission advised them to avoid demonstrations and exercise caution in the vicinity of any large gatherings.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has also issued a travel advisory, urging British citizens to avoid travel, unless very essential, to the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, citing reports of violence and other criminal activity, particularly in remote parts.
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of about 170 million people, will elect 300 lawmakers directly, with another 50 chosen from a women’s list. The last elections, held in January 2024, handed Hasina’s Awami League a fourth consecutive term, but were widely dismissed by opposition parties as a sham.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is widely expected to perform strongly in the upcoming vote. Zia is currently in intensive care in Dhaka, while her son and political heir, Tarique Rahman, is due to return from exile in Britain on December 25 after 17 years.
Human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recently raised concerns over rights violations in Bangladesh, which has a long history of political violence.
(With inputs from PTI, AP and AFP)