For the past two weeks, the disappearance of Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar had created a mystery across Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, law enforcement officials revealed that the MP had been brutally murdered in India, where he had traveled on a medical visa on May 12.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Tejgaon Division Deputy Commissioner (DC) HM Azimul Haque said that an abduction case was filed on Wednesday evening by the slain MP’s daughter Dorin.
In the case statement, Dorin mentioned that on May 9, her father left NAM Bhawan (Members of Parliament's residential building) on Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka to go to their village home, Jhenaidah.
Who was Anwarul Azim Anar, the MP murdered in India?"On May 13, we received a message from my father's Indian SIM number. It said, 'I am going to Delhi suddenly, I have VIPs with me. I am going to meet Amit Shah. No need to call me. I will call you later.' Apart from this, several other messages also came.”
The messages bear an eerie resemblance to messages received by Gopal Biswas around the same time, as revealed in the missing person complaint he filed with the local police on May 18, reports UNB.
In his complaint, Biswas stated that Anar left his Baranagar residence to keep a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon of May 13, stating that he would be back home for dinner.
But then later that day, Biswas alleged, he received a WhatsApp text from the MP’s phone stating he would be moving to Delhi for some urgent work and that his host “need not call him”.
Then on the morning of May 15, Biswas stated he received further communication from the victim confirming he reached Delhi and was “flanked by VIPs”.
In her case statement, Dorin said she suspects that the abductors took hold of her father's phone and sent these messages from May 13.
Biswas may now contend the same. And some communication, or attempted communication, that apparently took place on May 16 with the MP’s aide in Bangladesh, was also probably the same.
How the murder was planned
According to those involved in the investigation, Aktaruzzaman Shaheen planned to kill the MP in response to a business conflict. Shaheen is a Jhenaidah resident and US citizen. His brother is the mayor of Kotchandpur Municipality in Jhenaidah.
On April 30, Shaheen went to Kolkata with Aman and one of his girlfriends, Sylista Rahman.
They relocated to a pre-rented duplex flat in Sanjiba Garden, New Town, Kolkata. Shaheen's two associates, Siam and Jihad, were already staying in Kolkata. Together, they planned the murder.
Shaheen returned to the country on May 10, taking full responsibility for the murder of Aman. As planned, Aman took two more hitmen from Bangladesh to Kolkata. Faisal Shaji and Mostafiz went to Kolkata on May 11 and joined Aman.
