India on Sunday suspended visa operations at the Indian Visa Application Centre in the Bangladesh’s secondlargest city Chittagong until further notice in the wake of heightened tensions following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, local media reported.
India on Sunday suspended visa services at the Indian Visa Application Centre in Bangladesh’s second-largest city Chattogram until further notice amid heightened tensions following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, according to local media reports.
Hadi, a key figure in the student-led protests last year that resulted in the removal of the Awami League government led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was contesting the general elections scheduled for February 12.
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He was shot in the head by masked assailants on December 12 while campaigning in Dhaka’s central Bijoynagar area, and later died on Thursday while receiving medical treatment in Singapore.
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Hadi’s death sparked unrest and acts of vandalism across Bangladesh, including an incident on Thursday in which stones were reportedly thrown at the residence of the Assistant Indian High Commissioner in Chattogram.
Indian visa applications in Chittagong have been suspended indefinitely, the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Sunday.
The decision came into effect on Sunday following a recent security incident at the Assistant High Commission of India in Chittagong.
According to the IVAC, all Indian visa-related services in the port city will remain closed from December 21 until further notice.
The statement added that a further announcement will be made regarding the reopening of the visa application centre after a review of the security situation.
On December 20, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh’s Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that ”no third party can exploit the situation”, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
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Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, they chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka – Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain”.
With inputs from agencies
