Police 'very close to detecting' Hadi's shooters: DMP chief

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali has said police have "identified" the assailants involved in the shooting of Inqilab Mancha leader Sharif Osman bin Hadi.

"We are very close to detecting them. The criminals involved in this incident will be arrested at any time," the DMP chief stated last night (12 December), adding that the DMP has launched a major operation to apprehend the shooters.

Sazzat said, "A major operation is underway to arrest those who opened fire on Osman Hadi. Wherever the criminals may be hiding, they will be found and brought under the law."

Dhaka-8 aspiring candidate Osman Hadi shot in head, taken to Evercare Hospital; doctors say condition 'very critical'

Sharif Osman bin Hadi, a likely independent candidate for the upcoming election from the Dhaka-8 constituency, was shot by assailants on motorcycles in the Paltan area yesterday afternoon and was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the head.

Later, at around 7:30pm, after his surgery, he was taken to Evercare Hospital for advanced treatment, DMCH Director Brigadier General Md Asaduzzaman told reporters.

Dr Zahid Raihan, head of the Neurosurgery Department at DMCH, told reporters in the evening that Hadi's condition is "extremely critical".

Two suspects who shot Hadi were campaigning with him since morning: Co-campaigners

Unknown assailants on motorcycles shot Hadi in the capital's Paltan area. The incident took place a day after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the 13th national parliamentary election.

The attack took place sometime after the Jumma prayers yesterday, said witness Rahim Patoyari, who is also the publicity secretary of Shramik Odhikar Parishad's Dhaka Metropolitan South unit.