Mahdi Hasan, a leader of the anti-discrimination movement, who publicly threatened a police officer saying, “We had set SI Santosh on fire,” was taken into police custody in Delhi when he traveled to India for Europe.
On Wednesday (February 18), he was reportedly held at Delhi airport for nearly 40 minutes before being sent back to Bangladesh. Mahdi Hasan himself confirmed the incident.
Earlier, on Tuesday (February 17), a video circulated on social media showing him at the Finnish embassy in Delhi.
He was sent to Dhaka on an IndiGo Airlines flight at 12:40 pm on Wednesday. Before leaving India, Mahdi went live on Facebook, saying, “I am speaking from Delhi airport. What happened to me here, I will explain at a press conference in my country. I was held by the police for nearly 40 minutes. I requested to speak to my country’s embassy, but I was treated poorly. Later, after completing immigration, I am being sent back to Bangladesh.”
Mahdi Hasan is the General Secretary of the Habiganj district branch of the Anti-Discrimination Movement.
On January 1, when a young man named Enamul Hasan Noyon was arrested at Shaistaganj police station in Habiganj, Mahdi Hasan went there. He allegedly threatened the officer in charge, saying, “We had burned down Baniachong police station, and we had set SI Santosh on fire.” Following this, police arrested him. However, due to public pressure, he was granted bail and released within 24 hours.
