E-Paper
Bangladesh MP, who went missing last week in Bengal, has been murdered: Official
Bangladesh Detective Branch chief Harun-or-Rashid told journalists in Dhaka that Bangladeshi criminals were behind the killing
Kolkata: Bangladesh Awami League MP Md. Anwarul Azim (Anar), who came to West Bengal and went missing from Baranagar in the northern fringes of Kolkata last week, has been murdered, officials of both Bangladesh and West Bengal said on Wednesday.
“He had come to India on a personal visit. We had no intimation. We received a missing diary on May 18. Barrackpore city police set up a Special Investigation Team to trace him. On May 20, we received an intimation from the ministry of external affairs through the state government to look into the matter. On Tuesday, we received an input that he probably has been murdered. CID has taken over the investigation. We are yet to recover the body,” AK Chaturvedi, Inspector-general of police, Criminal Investigation Department, told media persons in Kolkata.
Police said Azim had come to India on May 12 and visited the house of his long-term friend Gopal Biswas at Baranagar in North 24 Parganas. It was Biswas who lodged the missing diary on May 18, following which the probe to trace the MP began.
Azim, a resident of Dhaka, is a three-time MP from Jhenaidah. He had two mobile phones. While one had a Bangladeshi number another had an Indian number. His Bangladeshi number was switched off on May 12 when he entered India.
Also Read: Bangladesh MP killed in Kolkata, joint investigation launched. What happened?
“He has been murdered in a flat in Kolkata. It was a planned murder. Both Indian police and Bangladeshi police are investigating,” Asaduzzaman Khan, Bangladesh home minister, told media persons in Dhaka.
Bangladesh foreign minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters in Dhaka that West Bengal police entered the flat where Azim was reportedly murdered but could not find his body.
Khan said three persons were arrested in Bangladesh. “We’re trying to catch a few more...According to the information we have so far, the people of our country [Bangladesh] are involved in the killing,” Khan was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star.
According to the missing diary lodged by Biswas with the Baranagar police, a copy of which was seen by HT, Azim came to his house on May 12 evening around 7pm. He had come for some medical treatment.
“The next day on May 13, Azim left around 1:40pm saying that he won’t have lunch but would return in the evening. In the evening, Azim, however, sent a WhatsApp message to Biswas saying that he was going to Delhi for some work. In the message, he also said that he would inform Biswas after reaching Delhi and that Biswas shouldn’t call him,” said a police officer.
On May 15, Biswas again got a WhatsApp message from Azim around 11:20am saying that he had reached Delhi and that there were some VIPs with him. Biswas, who is known to Azim’s family, later came to know that the MP had sent the same message to his PA and family members back home in Bangladesh.
“On May 16 Azim called his PA in the morning. His PA couldn’t receive the call. Later when he called back Azim, he failed to contact him,” police have learnt.
On May 17, Azim’s daughter called Biswas and informed him that she couldn’t reach his father over the phone. Biswas and other family members tried throughout the day to reach Azim but failed. It was only then that Biswas lodged a missing diary on May 18 at the Baranagar police station.
Investigation revealed that after leaving Biswas’s flat Azim had been to a flat in New Town around 20 km from Baranagar. Police have collected CCTV footage and are even checking mobile tower locations.
“The flat belongs to a man named Sandeep. He had given it on rent to one Rahaman, who happens to be a US national. Investigation is going on,” said IG Chaturvedi.
Bangladesh Detective Branch chief Harun-or-Rashid told journalists in Dhaka that Bangladeshi criminals were behind the killing. “It is a brutal murder. We are investigating whether family or financial causes, or enmity with local miscreants led to his death. We are working closely with the Indian police and getting plenty of information,” he said.
Jhenaidah, the area which Azim represented in Bangladesh’s Parliament, is “known for its high crime rate”, Khan said.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Azim and expressed her sympathy to his family members.
