The body, discovered on 26 August, 2024, has been identified through a Bangladeshi passport.
The body of Bangladeshi Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna, a former General Secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and a key member of the Awami League, is likely to be handed over to Bangladesh High Commission officials today, a top Meghalaya official told NDTV.
The body will likely be taken to the Dawki-Tamabil international border check post in Meghalaya and transferred to Bangladesh, the official further added.
The Meghalaya government had earlier stated that it is waiting for instructions from the Centre on the next steps to be taken following the recent recovery of the politician's body. Panna had fled Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime and had allegedly entered India illegally, likely through the Dona Bhoi area of East Jaiñtia Hills (EJH) District, approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The body, discovered on the evening of August 26, 2024, has been identified through a Bangladeshi passport.
The body has been kept in the Khliehriat Civil Hospital's morgue for identification. A post-mortem indicated that he died of throttling.
Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police), Prestone Tynsong, said, "We have informed the higher authorities and also the High Commissioners of Bangladesh and India about the discovery of the body, and now we are waiting for instructions from the Home Ministry on the next steps to be taken."
However, before the formal handover of the body, forensic test samples will be collected to aid in the investigation of how the politician died.
"The Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs are taking care of everything, and our responsibility as the state government is only to hand over the dead body to the concerned family members once they reach Meghalaya (India)," he said.