The Meghalaya government on Saturday handed over the body of Awami League leader Ishaque Ali Khan Panna to Bangladesh at the Dawki-Tamabil international border, a day after it was identified by a Bangladesh national “deputed” by the family of the deceased.

Panna’s body was recovered from a betel nut plantation in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district on August 26 evening. The deceased was identified on Friday afternoon by a man, who was “deputed” by the family of the deceased and “authorised” by the Bangladesh High Commission, officials told The Telegraph.

The Meghalaya government received clearance from the Centre to hand over the body on Friday after completion of the identification and other formalities, sources said.

“The body was taken from Khliehriat Civil Hospital around 5pm on Saturday to Dawki land custom station (India) around 8.30am and was handed over to Bangladesh authorities at the Tamabil land custom station after completing official formalities. The deceased’s nephew, Kamruz Zaman Khan, had come to receive the body at Tamabil and from there, they proceeded to Dhaka,” an official said.

The official said Panna’s family had got in touch with Bangladesh’s ministry of foreign affairs “to arrange for the repatriation of the body of the deceased” after news of the recovery was made public.

The body was identified by Prodip Saha, a Bangladeshi national, who reached Meghalaya soon after recovery of the body from Calcutta. Saha had accompanied the body to Dawki but returned after the formalities, the official said.

The post-mortem report, a copy of which is available with The Telegraph, reveals the cause of death “due to asphyxia (unable to breathe) caused by throttling”. However, the final opinion will be given after receiving FSL reports.

“The time since death (of Panna) is approximately one week,” the August 27 post-mortem report states that “the injuries found on the body are ante-mortem in nature.”

The Awami leader’s body was found along with his passport from Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, which borders the Sylhet district of Bangladesh.

Panna “went into hiding” following the unrest that swept Bangladesh after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5 following a student-led protest.