Guwahati: A top leader of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party, Ishaque Ali Khan Panna, who had reportedly fled the country after her government collapsed, was found dead in Meghalaya, not far from the Bangladesh border, Meghalaya police said in a press release today. Police sources added that his postmortem report suggests that he had been strangled.Meghalaya police said the semi-decomposed body was found inside a betel-nut plantation in East Jaintia Hills’ Dona Bhoi village on August 26. The area is 1.5 km from the India- Bangladesh border.The body was identified by the passport he was carrying, sources said.Police sources added that the postmortem report said he died because of strangulation — “the cause of the death is asphyxia caused by throttling”. The body has been sent for forensic analysis, sources said.There were also multiple lacerations on the body. There were abrasions and bruises on the forehead, “which could indicate a struggle by the victim,” the report added, said police sources.Panna was a former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League affiliated to the Awami League.
