A former Dhaka North City Corporation councillor accused of orchestrating the escape of the principal suspects in the assassination of Inquilab Mancha convener Sharif Osman Hadi appears to have established a new identity in India after fleeing Bangladesh, according to official identity records obtained and reviewed by Daily Waadaa.
The records indicate that Taijul Islam Chowdhury, better known as "Bappy," a former councillor of Dhaka North City Corporation's Ward No 6 and former organising secretary of the Dhaka North Jubo League, obtained Indian government-issued identity documents under a different name after leaving Bangladesh.
Waadaa reviewed multiple documents, including civil identity and tax records, whose authenticity was corroborated through official Indian government verification portals.
The emergence of the documents comes as Bangladeshi investigators expand their probe into the December 12 killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, one of the country's most politically consequential murder investigations.
Detectives with the Dhaka Metropolitan Police have alleged that Bappy, who left Bangladesh after the August 5 mass uprising, coordinated the escape of the alleged gunman and his motorcycle-riding accomplice across the India-Bangladesh border.
Investigators are now examining whether the acquisition of an alternative identity formed part of a broader effort to facilitate long-term concealment after the fugitives crossed into India.
A comparative review by Waadaa of official records from Bangladesh and India found striking consistencies between Bappy's Bangladeshi civil records and the identity reflected in the Indian documents, despite the use of a different name.
The similarities—including familial links and other biographical markers—are among the elements investigators are scrutinising as part of the ongoing inquiry.
Bappy's official Bangladeshi passport records list his full name as Md Taijul Islam Chowdhury Bappy, born on July 5, 1983, in Dhaka. The document (Passport No B00083271, replacing previous passport BY0812227) was issued on January 20, 2022, by DIP/Dhaka and is valid through January 19, 2032.
It records his personal identity number as 2393826009, his father's name as Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury Montu, his mother's name as Khurshida Begum, and his spouse as Simla Akhter. The passport lists his permanent home address as 33/J, Milk Vita Road, Section-7, Pallabi, Mirpur - 1216, Dhaka, with emergency contact phone number +8801751212123.
Cross-referencing these details against Indian civil identification records shows that an individual matching Bappy’s facial features holds an active Indian Aadhaar identity card issued on November 22, 2024, under Enrolment No 2730/00453/45264.
The document registers his name as "Md Mohiduddin Chowdhury" and lists his father's name as "Md Nazruluddin Chowdhury"—an abbreviated variation of his father's Bangladeshi record. While his birth date is altered slightly to 1988, the specific day and month (July 5) remain identical to his Bangladeshi passport.
The Indian identity documentation (Aadhaar No 3212 8554 2522, VID: 9199 2372 1772 0560) assigns his primary address to C/O: Md Nazruluddin Chowdhury, GR-FR 3/1/H/3, Bhukailash Road, Khiddirpore, Kolkata, West Bengal, PIN Code 700023, tied to contact number ending in 4857.
An online verification scan conducted via the official Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) portal confirms that Aadhaar record 3212 8554 2522 is registered to an active male resident in West Bengal in the 30–40 age bracket.
In addition to the Aadhaar registration, the same identity holds a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card issued by the Income Tax Department of the Government of India under registration DHGPC5664C, processed under application reference 03122024.
Whether the documents were lawfully obtained, fraudulently procured or issued on the basis of false information remains under investigation. Indian authorities have not publicly announced any criminal findings concerning the documents.
The identity allegations emerged as investigators continued reconstructing the movements of those accused of carrying out and facilitating Hadi's killing.
According to investigators, Hadi was shot shortly after Friday prayers on December 12 while travelling by rickshaw on Culvert Road in Purana Paltan. He was flown to Singapore for treatment but died six days later.
Police have identified former Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Faisal Karim Masud as the alleged gunman and Alamgir Sheikh, a Jubo League activist from Adabor, as the motorcycle rider who allegedly helped him flee the scene.
Investigators allege that both men escaped Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border in Mymensingh on the night of the shooting.
The investigation, according to police, has increasingly focused on the logistical network that enabled that escape. According to Detective Branch investigators, Bappy coordinated parts of the operation from India.
Police allege that after the shooting, Chowdhury telephoned his brother-in-law, Aminul Islam, in Dhaka after being unable to contact a suspected border facilitator known as Philip Snal.
Investigators say Chowdhury instructed Aminul to reach the facilitator and arrange an immediate crossing for two men that same night. According to police, Aminul contacted the facilitator, relayed the instructions and transferred 5,000 taka to facilitate the crossing.
Meanwhile, investigators say Masud and Sheikh travelled from Dhaka to the Haluaghat frontier, changing vehicles multiple times before crossing into India.
Detectives later tracked mobile communications and location data that, investigators say, linked the suspects to the border area.
Subsequent operations led investigators to two associates of the alleged border facilitator, who reportedly told police they only realised the significance of the crossing after seeing television reports about the killing.
The facilitator subsequently disappeared, investigators said. Dhaka Metropolitan Police later arrested Aminul Islam in Mirpur.
Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam, who oversees the Detective Branch, said Aminul had been arrested on allegations of helping Masud and Sheikh escape following the killing. A court subsequently granted police permission to question him in custody.
Police have said communications analysis forms an important part of the evidence collected so far.
With Aminul's arrest, authorities said police and the Rapid Action Battalion had detained 11 people in connection with the investigation.
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