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The three are being questioning by Bangladeshi police, he says
Published : 22 May 2024, 02:04 PM
Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar, who went to India to seek medical treatment, was killed at a home in Kolkata ‘in a pre-meditated way’, says Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
Bangladeshi police arrested three people and are interrogating them after they were informed of the matter by Indian police, he said on Wednesday.
News of Anar’s death was reported by local media in India on Wednesday morning. The home minister then met police officials over the matter at his private residence in Dhanmondi.
After the meeting, he told reporters: “According to the information we have, Anwarul Azim was killed in a pre-planned way. From the information we received from Indian police, we have detained three people who we suspect to have committed the murder or to be involved in it. They are being questioned and the investigation is ongoing.”
Anar is the president of the Kaliganj Upazila unit of the Awami League and won his third consecutive term as Jhenaidah-4 MP in January by running on the party ticket.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her condolences and deep grief at the death of the MP.
Anar had entered India by the Darshana-Gede border on May 11.
He had been staying with a friend named Gopal Biswas. Biswas had filed a general diary at the police station on May 18 after Anar had gone missing. The GD stated that he had left the house on the afternoon of May 13 and had not returned. But, a message from his WhatsApp number stated that he was going to Delhi.
Anar’s daughter Mumtarin Ferdoush Dorin contacted the Detective Branch of Dhaka police, informing them her father had gone missing.
After several days of back-and-forth communication between police of the two countries, news of Anar’s killing was published by Kolkata media outlets on Wednesday. The reports said his body was found in a multi-storey apartment block called Sanjiva Garden in the city’s New Town area.
Anar’s friend Gopal told bdnews24.com that the investigating officer of the GD, Subhendu Goswami, had called him and informed him that the body had been recovered.
But Home Minister Khan said that the MP’s body had yet to be found, even though his murder had been confirmed.
“Due to the investigation, we won’t say much at this time. We don’t have the body yet. We are investigating based on the information we have received.”
Anar’s constituency has problems with criminals, the home minister said.
“Anwarul Azim was once again elected the MP of that constituency. He went there [Kolkata] for treatment and this incident occurred. I will soon be able to inform you about the motive of the killing. Indian police are giving us all kinds of support.”
“After the investigation is complete, we will inform you why he was killed, who killed him, and how.”
Asked whether the sitting MP’s killing would lead to frictions in the relations between the two countries, the home minister said, “Since the incident, India has been cooperating with us on all fronts. As such, there is no reason for acrimony. This is because the killers are Bangladeshis and no Indians are involved.”
