Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar traveled to India on May 12 for medical treatment. Two days later, he could not be located. On Wednesday morning, the Kolkata Police reported his death.
However, by 6pm, neither the Kolkata Police nor any responsible authority in Bangladesh had provided clear information about the time, manner, and location of his death.
Initially, it was reported that MP Anar was killed in a flat in an elite residential area of Newtown.
After that, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that Anwarul’s was murder was premeditated, and three people had been arrested in connection with the incident. However, he did not provide detailed information about the arrests.
Minister: MP Anar murder premeditated, 3 arrested in BangladeshMP Anar's body has not been found yet, but bloodstains were discovered in the flat he had stayed in at Sanjeeva Garden Residence in Newtown, according to Kolkata media outlet Anandabazar.
After entering India, MP Anar initially stayed at a friend's house in Baranagar, Kolkata.
Two days later, he left that house and went somewhere else. Since May 14, MP Anar had been unreachable by mobile phone. When he failed to return to his friend’s house in Baranagar, a missing diary was filed at the police station on May 18.
An Indian expert team collected samples, including fingerprints and bloodstains, from the flat at Newtown police station on Wednesday.
The flat was cordoned off with temporary barricades, and the Kolkata police restricted entry and exit.
The apartment was owned by one Sanjib Ghosh, an employee of the state excise department, who, in turn, had rented it out to one Akhtaruzzaman, a US national, but refused to divulge further details of the ongoing investigation.
Anwar, Indian police sources said, was accompanied by two men and a woman when he checked into the apartment. While CCTV footage showed that the unidentified men and woman left the residential complex in phases between May 15 and May 17, the MP could not be traced.
At least two of the three people accompanying the victim later returned to Bangladesh, police said.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun said that the Indian police had not officially provided any information about MP Anwarul.
Mysterious messages
Indian media reported that Anwarul Azim went to the Baranagar house of his friend, Gopal Biswas, on the evening of May 12.
He left the next day to visit a doctor and never returned. Gopal Biswas filed a missing diary at Baranagar police station on May 18, providing these details.
The diary stated that Anwarul left at 1:40pm on May 13 to see a doctor and said he would return in the evening. However, he did not return. Instead, a message from Anwarul's phone to Gopal's WhatsApp said: "Leaving for Delhi on special business and will call on arrival. Don't need to call me."
DB: Investigation underway to determine motive behind MP Anar’s murderOfficers of the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) of the West Bengal Police told the BBC that they first arrested the cab driver who had picked up MP Anwarul Azim during their investigation. The cab driver revealed that after Anwarul got into the car, three other individuals—two men and one woman—also got in. The four of them then went to the house in Kolkata's Newtown.
On May 15, another message from Anwarul's phone indicated that he had reached Delhi and said: "I have VIPs with me, no need to call."
Gopal Biswas forwarded this message from Anwarul's number to Anwarul's family and personal assistant, Abdur Rauf.
Mobile phone location mystery
Anwarul's mobile phones had been frequently switched off since his disappearance. He was using two phones during his trip to India, and both were sometimes turned on briefly.
Indian police tracked the mobile phone locations, which appeared in various places.
FM: No body found in MP Anwarul Azim's alleged murder siteAfter leaving his friend’s house in Baranagar, his phone was once located in the Newmarket area. On May 17, his phone was active for a short period in Bihar, with locations also detected in Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and border areas between Bangladesh and India.
This led to questions about whether MP Anwarul himself had written the messages sent to his friend Gopal Biswas.
Who was Anwarul?
Anwarul Azim Anar hailed from Madhuganj Bazar in Kaliganj, Jhenaidah.
He was the president of the Kaliganj Upazila Awami League and had served as the MP for Jhenaidah-4 for three consecutive terms, elected in 2014, 2018, and 2024.
Three individuals have been arrested in connection with his death.
