Hadi, a vocal critic of India who took part in last year’s mass uprising, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka earlier this month and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Singapore.
“The killing was premeditated. Those behind it have been identified,” SN Nazrul Islam, a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer, said at a news conference.
Suspects Faisal Karim Masud and Alamgir Sheikh left Bangladesh through the Haluaghat border with India shortly after attacking Hadi on Dec 12, Islam said.
They were received at the border by two Indian citizens, who escorted them into the northeastern state of Meghalaya before handing them over to two accomplices.
Bangladeshi investigators were in contact with their Indian counterparts, who had arrested the two suspected accomplices, Islam said.
“We are communicating with Meghalaya police, who have confirmed the arrest of two Indian nationals,” he added.
Two senior Meghalaya police officers, however, did not comment when contacted by AFP.
Read: Assassination of student leader Osman Hadi leads to protests across Bangladesh
Sharif Osman Hadi, 32, was a spokesperson for the Inquilab Mancha, or Platform for Revolution, and participated in the student-led protests that overthrew the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year. He was shot in the head by masked assailants in Dhaka last Friday while launching his campaign for the elections.
His death set off violent protests with angry mobs torching several buildings, including two major newspapers deemed to favour India, as well as a prominent cultural institution.
With protests being held across the country almost daily, pressure has been growing on Bangladesh’s interim government to arrest the killers of Hadi, who was set to contest the general elections in February next year.