KOLKATA: A Bangladesh MP who came to Kolkata earlier this month for medical treatment and then went missing has been murdered. Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said at a press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday that three persons had been arrested in Bangladesh for the murder of Anwarul Azim Anar, 56, in Kolkata. The MP’s body, however, has not been found yet.
“Azim was murdered in a planned manner in a house in Kolkata. Police forces of both India and Bangladesh are working simultaneously to unearth the motive behind the murder and who the culprits are. We are following all international protocols to get to the bottom of this,” Khan said, adding that “people of our country are involved in the killing”. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at Azim’s death and conveyed her condolences to the family.
A three-time Awami League MP who represented Jhenaidah-4 in Khulna division of Bangladesh, Azim had reached Kolkata on May 12 and put up with long-term associate Gopal Biswas in his house in north Kolkata’s Sinthi. According to Biswas, he left the next day in a car saying he was going for a medical check-up but did not return. Over the next two days, Biswas and Azim’s daughter in Bangladesh received text messages from Azim saying he was in Delhi on work. But when they failed to get in touch with him in the next 48 hours, Biswas filed a missing complaint at Baranagar police station on May 18. The Barrackpore Police Commissionerate formed a special investigation team to trace the politician. On May 20, an external affairs ministry input said the MP had possibly been murdered.
Bidhannagar Police on Wednesday said the MP was murdered in an upscale gated community with duplex flats near Aquatica in New Town. The flat is owned by an employee of the state excise department, Sanjib Ghosh, who had rented it out to one Akhtaruzzaman, a US national.
Bangla MP murder: 2 left complex with big bags
A team of officials from Bidhannagar and Barrackpore Police Commissionerates, the STF and central agencies reached the New Town flat on Wednesday morning to conduct a search. They found blood stains but there was no body. CCTV footage showed Anar entering the housing complex with two men and a woman on May 13 but he was not seen exiting. The two men and the women were seen exiting at different times between May 13 and 15 – two of them were seen leaving with big bags. Akhilesh Chaturvedi, IG of state CID, confirmed that police were yet to recover the MP’s body.
Biswas said in the missing diary that Anar sent him a message on May 13 claiming he was travelling to Delhi. On May 15, he texted to say he had reached Delhi and was with VIPs and so would not be able to speak to him. According to Biswas, Anar’s daughter Mumtarim Firdaus Dorin and personal assistant also received similar messages.
“There was a call from the MP’s phone to his PA on May 16. His PA could not take the call at that moment but when he rang back, the MP’s phone was unavailable. Anar’s daughter, concerned about her father becoming incommunicado, called me on May 17. The next day I filed the missing complaint,” Biswas said.
Bangladeshi newspaper ‘Daily Star’ quoted the country’s home minister as saying that they were on the lookout for a few more persons involved in the murder.
“Azim was murdered in a planned manner in a house in Kolkata. Police forces of both India and Bangladesh are working simultaneously to unearth the motive behind the murder and who the culprits are. We are following all international protocols to get to the bottom of this,” Khan said, adding that “people of our country are involved in the killing”. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at Azim’s death and conveyed her condolences to the family.
A three-time Awami League MP who represented Jhenaidah-4 in Khulna division of Bangladesh, Azim had reached Kolkata on May 12 and put up with long-term associate Gopal Biswas in his house in north Kolkata’s Sinthi. According to Biswas, he left the next day in a car saying he was going for a medical check-up but did not return. Over the next two days, Biswas and Azim’s daughter in Bangladesh received text messages from Azim saying he was in Delhi on work. But when they failed to get in touch with him in the next 48 hours, Biswas filed a missing complaint at Baranagar police station on May 18. The Barrackpore Police Commissionerate formed a special investigation team to trace the politician. On May 20, an external affairs ministry input said the MP had possibly been murdered.
Bidhannagar Police on Wednesday said the MP was murdered in an upscale gated community with duplex flats near Aquatica in New Town. The flat is owned by an employee of the state excise department, Sanjib Ghosh, who had rented it out to one Akhtaruzzaman, a US national.
Bangla MP murder: 2 left complex with big bags
A team of officials from Bidhannagar and Barrackpore Police Commissionerates, the STF and central agencies reached the New Town flat on Wednesday morning to conduct a search. They found blood stains but there was no body. CCTV footage showed Anar entering the housing complex with two men and a woman on May 13 but he was not seen exiting. The two men and the women were seen exiting at different times between May 13 and 15 – two of them were seen leaving with big bags. Akhilesh Chaturvedi, IG of state CID, confirmed that police were yet to recover the MP’s body.
Biswas said in the missing diary that Anar sent him a message on May 13 claiming he was travelling to Delhi. On May 15, he texted to say he had reached Delhi and was with VIPs and so would not be able to speak to him. According to Biswas, Anar’s daughter Mumtarim Firdaus Dorin and personal assistant also received similar messages.
“There was a call from the MP’s phone to his PA on May 16. His PA could not take the call at that moment but when he rang back, the MP’s phone was unavailable. Anar’s daughter, concerned about her father becoming incommunicado, called me on May 17. The next day I filed the missing complaint,” Biswas said.
Bangladeshi newspaper ‘Daily Star’ quoted the country’s home minister as saying that they were on the lookout for a few more persons involved in the murder.