The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna, who was found dead in Meghalaya earlier this week, was “throttled to death”, the Shillong Times has reported citing the post-mortem report.
The forensic report will be able to give a better picture on the cause of Panna’s death, the paper said, quoting a police source.
A leader of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party, Panna was found dead in a betel nut plantation near the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district on Monday (August 26) evening.
According to news agency United News of India, there were lacerated wounds on Panna’s body especially on the “lower right part of the orbital region [the eye socket]”. There were abrasions and bruises on the forehead, which could indicate a struggle by the victim, it added quoting the post-mortem report.
Panna’s body is likely to be handed over to his family if and when they approach the Meghalaya government, the paper reported.
“This probably would be done through diplomatic channels,” Meghalaya police said, adding they would not be able to hand over the body directly.
Panna’s body has been kept at the Khliehriat Civil Hospital morgue.
According to East Jaintia Hills police chief Giri Prasad, Panna’s body was discovered approximately 1.5 km from the border at Dona Bhoi. His identity was confirmed through his passport.
Panna was a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League and a key figure in the Awami League from Pirojpur district in Bangladesh. He had been evading authorities since the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5.
Earlier media reports had suggested that Panna may have died from a cardiac arrest while attempting to cross the border. However, BSF Meghalaya Frontier strongly refuted this saying that “no infiltration/illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals was reported in the area”.
Conflicting accounts indicate that he might have been involved in a shootout with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police are investigating both possibilities, Press Trust of India had reported.