AL MP Azim murdered in Kolkata

Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar, who went missing in Kolkata last week, has been murdered by what the government says are some Bangladeshi men.

However, as of filing this report at 1:00am today, the body was not found.

In Dhaka, police arrested three suspects, and West Bengal police detained a taxi driver, who is an Indian national, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters yesterday.

Azim travelled to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed the night at a family friend’s home in Borah Nagar. The following day, he left the house, saying he was going to see a doctor.He did not return and the friend only received a couple of texts from his mobile phone that said there was no need to call him.

“Azim was murdered at a Kolkata flat. So far, we know that those involved in the killing are all Bangladeshis. It was a premeditated killing … Indian police are cooperating with us,” the home minister said, adding that the motive behind the murder was still unknown.

Azim’s hometown Jhenaidah is close to the border and known for its high crime rate, he said.

In 2008, Azim was on an Interpol list of wanted individuals. Between 2000 and 2008, he stood accused in 21 cases, including three for murders. He was acquitted of the charges at different times, says his affidavit filed with the Election Commission.

WHO KILLED HIM AND WHY

Multiple sources in Bangladesh intelligence and law enforcement said Azim and a Bangladeshi-US citizen named Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, locally known as Shaheen, who Indian police say is a key suspect, were probably running an illegal gold business in Kolkata.

The two recently fell out over business matters, and there was evidence that Akhtaruzzaman hired a man named Amanullah, who was arrested in Dhaka on Tuesday night, to kill Azim, the sources added.

Amanullah then recruited two others named Mustafizur and Faisal for the job. They too were arrested yesterday, said an officer on the condition of anonymity.

Akhtaruzzaman also hired two others named Jihad and Siam, who went to India without any passports, for the same purpose.

Police said Amanullah was once a leader of Purbo Banglar Communist Party. He was in prison for 20 years in two murder cases.

Requesting anonymity, an officer said, “Akhtaruzzaman rented a flat in Kolkata for Jihad and Siam. Akhtaruzzaman and Amanullah went to Kolkata on April 30.”

Amanullah, Mustafizur and Faisal told investigators that they murdered the MP in a rented flat. The body was then cut into pieces, piled into two suitcases and handed to an Indian man for disposal.

Amanullah told the investigators that the suitcases changed hands, and he did not know where they were dumped.

After the murder, Akhtaruzzaman’s friend Celesty Rahman, who is on the run, and Amanullah flew back to Dhaka on May 15 while Mustafizur came to Bangladesh on May 17 and Faisal on May 18, said the officer.

Amanullah, who was arrested from Mohammadpur in Dhaka, narrated the entire story during interrogation. He also told officers that he and the other suspects agreed to do the job for Tk 5 crore.

According to intelligence sources, Akhtaruzzaman left Delhi for Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Azim’s friend Gopal Biswas, at whose home he was staying, told The Daily Star that an investigation officer of Borah Nagar Police Station said the suspect who planned the murder was named Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman.

The officer, Suvendhu Goswami, also told Gopal that Akhtaruzzaman is from Kotchandpur upazila of Jhenaidah.

“Akhtaruzzaman rented a flat in the New Town area a year ago at a monthly rent of Rs 1 lakh. He came to Kolkata with a US passport and committed the crime with the help of seven Bangladeshis,” Gopal said, quoting the officer.

According to security camera footage seen by the Indian police, Azim, two other men and a woman entered the flat. Only the two men and the woman were seen leaving the flat later, Gopal added.

Indian police say they have detected the probable place where Azim’s body might have been disposed of with the help of a taxi driver, now in their custody.

An intelligence officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The record shows Akhtaruzzaman went to Nepal from Mumbai. There is no information whether he entered Bangladesh. Investigators will seek Interpol’s assistance if needed.”

A source at a law enforcement agency in Bangladesh said, “Akhtaruzzaman had close ties with Azim. We suspect he may have killed the lawmaker over business conflicts.”

Akhtaruzzaman’s brother Shahiduzzaman is the mayor of Kotchandpur Municipality.

Contacted, he said, “My brother had visited Bangladesh during Ramadan.”

He claimed the lawmaker and his brother had a good relationship.

THE ARRESTS IN DHAKA

On Tuesday night, police arrested Amanullah, said A DB official, adding that following up on his information, Faisal and Mostafizur were arrested.

Harun Or Rashid, additional commissioner (DB), said, “We are closely working with the Indian police. We are receiving a lot of information we cannot divulge now for the sake of investigation.”

BLOOD STAINS IN FLAT

West Bengal CID is investigating the case, reports our Delhi correspondent.

Inspector General Akhilesh Chaturvedi said, “We had no prior intimation of the Bangladeshi MP’s arrival in the city. We came to know about him after Gopal Biswas filed a diary. A special investigation team was formed by the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate to trace the missing politician.”

There were blood stains in the flat, where the MP was last seen, and “our forensic team is examining the suspected crime scene”, West Bengal police sources said.

Barrackpore Police Commissioner Alok Rajoria said, “West Bengal police spoke to their counterparts in Bihar and Chhattisgarh because the last tower location of one of the mobiles of Azim was in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.”

DAUGHTER FILES CASE

Azim’s daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen filed an abduction case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, accusing unnamed people.

“I demand a fair investigation into the murder. I want to see the end of this. Why did they kill my father?” she told reporters at the DB office in the capital yesterday.

Muhammad Ahad, officer-in-charge of the police station, said it was not a murder case because “his body has not been found and we have not been officially informed about his death”.