Yunus aide quits after Osman Hadi’s death, weeks ahead of polls in Bangladesh

Muhammad Yunus

Amid continuing turmoil in Bangladesh following the killing of uprising leader Osman Hadi, Khoda Baksh Chowdhury has stepped down as Special Assistant (Home Ministry) to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

Chowdhury’s resignation has been accepted by President Mohammed Shahabuddin. A former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chowdhury had taken charge as a special assistant to Yunus on November 10, 2024.

The political unrest intensified after Hadi’s death, triggering widespread violence in several parts of the country. A mob torched the offices of mass-circulation newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo, along with two prominent cultural organisations -- Chhayanot and Udichi Shilpi Goshti -- both established in the 1960s.

Earlier on Wednesday, the situation worsened when a man was killed in a crude bomb attack near a church in Dhaka.

The unrest comes at a critical time, with less than two months remaining before the national election scheduled for February 12, 2026. The upcoming polls will be the first since the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina regime in July 2024.

Chowdhury’s exit adds to a series of resignations from Yunus’s interim government. At least three advisers have stepped down so far. These include Nahid Islam, a student leader adviser who resigned from the advisory council earlier in 2025.

On December 10, 2025, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain quit his role as adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, while Mahfuj Alam resigned on the same day from his position as adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.