Bangladesh to seek Interpol’s assistance in arresting the fugitive “mastermind” behind the brutal murder of ruling party lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar, who was found killed in Kolkata last week, a senior official stated on Sunday. Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, the head of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, made these comments at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Sunday before departing for Kolkata to investigate the case, according to news agency PTI.
Anar, a three-time MP from the Jhenaidah-4 constituency and president of Awami League’s Kaliganj sub-district unit left Dhaka on May 12 for medical treatment in Kolkata, where he disappeared the next day. The search for Anar began after Gopal Biswas, a resident of Baranagar in north Kolkata and an acquaintance of the Bangladeshi politician, filed a complaint with local police on May 18.
As per the Kolkata police, circumstantial evidence depicted that the MP was first strangled and killed after which his body was dismembered and dumped in different areas. Traces of his body are yet to be found.
“We will seek help from Interpol to bring back Akhtaruzzaman Shaheen, the fugitive “mastermind” of Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar’s murder,” said Harun, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, PTI reported.
Bangladesh Detective Branch Team Arrives In Kolkata
Harun added that Shaheen, the deceased lawmaker’s childhood friend, will be repatriated after an application is made through the inspector general of police. And, to look into Azim’s murder, a three-person detective branch team departed Dhaka arrived in Kolkata.
#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: Harun-or-Rashid, Chief, Bangladesh Detective Department arrives at the New Town Police station in connection with the Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar murder case.
MP Anwarul Azim Anar was found dead in Kolkata on May 22. pic.twitter.com/QM4jF4dQkS
— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2024
As per Harun, Jihad, who was detained in India concerning the murder, will be questioned by the detective branch team after they visit the crime scene in Kolkata.
A Bangladesh court recently sent three suspects to an eight-day police remand for their alleged involvement in Anar’s murder. Meanwhile, in India, West Bengal police arrested a Bangladeshi butcher from North-24-Parganas district for his alleged involvement in the killing.
West Bengal CID officials suggested that a gold smuggling dispute might have been a motive for the murder, claiming that a rift between Anar and his US citizen business partner over smuggling activities could be the cause of the incident.
