India on Sunday (December 21, 2025) suspended visa operations at the Indian Visa Application Centre in Bangladesh’s second-largest city, Chittagong, until further notice in the wake of heightened tensions following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi, local media reported.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on Thursday (December 18).
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner’s residence in Chattogram on Thursday (December 18).
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 (December 21).
