Shillong, Aug 31: The body of the Awami League leader, Ishaque Ali Khan Panna, was handed over to Bangladesh officials on Saturday by Meghalaya government at the Dawki Land Port after completion of all paper works and necessary formalities.
Earlier in the morning, at around 5 AM, Panna’s body was handed over to an associate, approved by the Bangladesh High Commission, at Khliehriat Civil hospital in East Jaintia Hills district. The associate had been tasked with identifying the body and completing the related paper works to ensure smoothing handing over of the body to Bangladeshi authorities.
From Khliehriat, the body was taken to Dawki Land Port in West Jaintia Hills under heavy security. From there, it is scheduled to taken to his home in Pirojpur district in Bangladesh for his final rites.
Panna was a former General Secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and a key member of the Awami League and closely associated with former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.
The Ministry of External Affairs, India and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh had been working closely ever since the body of Panna was found in a betel nut plantation in Dona Bhoi village in East Jaintia Hills on August 26. The place is about 1.5 km from the India-Bangladesh border.
The body was identified through a Bangladesh passport on his body.
Meghalaya government had also been actively coordinating with the Bangladesh High Commission as per the instructions of the Ministry of External Affairs and Home Affairs.
While the body had reached the Dawki Land Port at around 8.30 AM, it took almost 3 hours for the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) and other security agencies to get clearance to take custody of Panna’s mortal remains.
This comes when India and Bangladesh as well as BSF and BGB had been preparing for the body’s hand over for days.
According to sources, BGB had reportedly asked for more documents for verification before taking custody of Panna’s body, leading to the delay.
Nonetheless, a fleet of ambulances was ready on the Bangladesh side since morning to transport Panna’s body.
According to the post mortem report of Khliehriat Civil hospital, Panna was killed by throttling.
According to sources, several security agencies are investigating the circumstances that led to Panna’s death and the “dumping of the body” inside India.
