Delhi Distress: Mahdi Hasan Says Threats Follow Viral Video
Mahdi Hasan, Member Secretary of the Habiganj district unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, is currently in Delhi, India. On Tuesday (February 17) afternoon, a video of him was recorded without his knowledge and posted on social media from various accounts affiliated with India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as well as from accounts linked to fugitive figures associated with the Bangladesh Awami League.
In those posts, Mahdi has been identified by name and described as a “self-confessed killer of July,” accompanied by threats. He told Dhaka-based digital investigative news outlet The Descent that he has also been receiving threatening calls and messages on his mobile phone.
Mahdi Hasan said he had gone to a VFS center in Delhi regarding visa-related matters for travel to Finland. After leaving the VFS center around 1:00 pm on Tuesday and returning to his hotel, he began receiving calls and messages from various unknown numbers. From those communications, he realized that someone had posted his current location, mobile number, and other personal information on social media without his knowledge.
A search by The Descent on Facebook and X found more than a hundred posts about Mahdi. Most of the posts included a video showing Mahdi sitting on a chair. The video appears to have been recorded by someone standing behind him.
Mahdi stated that the footage was recorded Tuesday afternoon when he had gone to the VFS center in Delhi to submit visa documents. However, he said he does not know who recorded the video.
He added that after returning to his hotel and seeing the posts, he has been feeling insecure.
“I am very scared. I cannot understand who is following me. After returning to the hotel, I have not gone outside. Someone has knocked on the door several times. I did not open it,” he said.
He further stated that he has already informed the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi about the matter.
When contacted by The Descent, Bangladesh’s High Commissioner in Delhi, Riaz Hamidullah, said he was in a meeting and ended the call.
Since the afternoon, numerous Facebook and X accounts have posted the video.
At 2:18 pm, a Facebook account named “Leo Cyfer” posted the video of Mahdi Hasan with a caption accusing him of burning a police station and killing a police officer, claiming he was attempting to enter Europe on a work permit visa and had visited the VFS Global application center at Gandhi Marg, Connaught Place, Delhi, to submit biometric data and documents for a European visa.
A different voiceover from another video has been added in the background of the circulated footage.
Several pages and accounts aligned with the Awami League have also posted the video, calling for his arrest. Similar campaigns have reportedly been conducted by multiple accounts linked to the BJP.
Mahdi Hasan recently came into discussion after a video of his altercation with Officer-in-Charge Abul Kalam of Shayestaganj Police Station in Habiganj went viral. In that video, he is seen telling the OC that during the July uprising they burned down Baniachang Police Station and set Sub-Inspector Santosh Chowdhury on fire.
Following those remarks, Mahdi faced widespread criticism. Subsequently, on January 3, 2026, he was arrested amid public debate. In protest of his arrest, leaders and activists of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement gathered in front of the police station that evening, demanding his release. The organization also held a central protest rally in Dhaka and issued an ultimatum demanding his release.
On January 4, 2026, the organization demanded not only bail but his unconditional release. It also called for an ordinance granting immunity to all participants in the July movement for actions taken between July 1 and August 8, 2024.
DBTech/The Descent/IK/OR
