Police investigate if Anar's murder photos were shared locally: DB chief

Harunor Rashid says they are investigating if the suspects shared photos of the murder after returning to Bangladesh

File Photo

Police are investigating reports that photos of the murder of MP Anwarul Azim Anar were sent to local Awami League leaders in Jhenaidah.

Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid, head of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch, revealed the information while speaking to the reporters at their headquarters on Tuesday.

The murder occurred in India, and all the criminals involved were Bangladeshis who returned to Bangladesh afterwards, police had said earlier.

“We are investigating if they shared photos of the murder after coming back [to Bangladesh],” Harun said.

"We are also looking into whether they received any financial benefits from sharing these photos and from whom. We are considering the information provided by journalists as part of our investigation."

Police arrested Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu, relief and social welfare secretary of the ruling party’s Jhenaidah district unit, on suspicion of involvement in the murder.

The court has allowed forensic tests on the mobile phones belonging to Babu, Amanulla Sayeed aka Shimul Bhuiyan, his nephew Tanvir Bhuiyan, and Celesty Rahman.

The alleged mastermind, Akhtaruzzaman aka Shaheen Mia, travelled to the US from Bangladesh via New Delhi, Kathmandu, and Dubai. He has a US passport.

“Although we couldn't catch him, we have information on the other suspects and have arrested many of them. One suspect was arrested in India, and another, Siam Hossain, was arrested in Nepal and is now in Indian police custody."

"As you know, Siam has carried out the main task of killing Anar and disposing of different parts of his body in various locations. We also heard that they (Indian police) also recovered some parts of the body with his help.”

"The CID's Kolkata Bureau has received a preliminary forensic report confirming that the pieces of flesh found in the septic tank of Sanjeeva Gardens, where Anar was killed, and the bones found near the Bagjola canal are human remains."

Kolkata CID IG Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, who headed the Special Investigation Team for the case, confirmed that the initial report identified the remains as "human" and specifically as "male remains”.

The CID official told The Times of India newspaper that they would seek court permission to conduct a DNA test to confirm if the flesh pieces and bones belong to MP Anar. If approved, Anar's relatives, including his daughter Mumtarin Ferdoush Dorin, would undergo DNA tests for a conclusive determination.

Anar's relatives are waiting to go to Kolkata for the DNA tests.

Anar, a three-time MP from Jhenaidah-4 and president of the Kaliganj Upazila unit of the Awami League, went to India for medical treatment on May 11.

Initially, he stayed at the house of his friend and gold trader Gopal Biswas in Kolkata’s Baranagar. However, he went out one day and never came back.

Later, Gopal filed a GD at the local police station, triggering investigations in both countries. On the morning of May 22, Indian media reported that MP Anar had been murdered at an apartment in New Town.

Based on information provided by Indian police, detective police in Bangladesh arrested three suspects. They were also taken into remand for interrogation.

The three are Amanulla Sayeed alias Shimul Bhuiyan alias Shihab aka Fazl Mohammad Bhuiyan, 56, Tanvir Bhuiyan, 30, and Celesty Rahman, 22.

Detective police also arrested another individual from Jashore in connection with the murder.

The detainee, Saiful Alam Molla Member, is an associate of Shimul Bhuiyan, leader of the extremist outfit Purbo Banglar Communist Party, who has been arrested on murder charges.

Police said Anar’s childhood friend Shaheen, a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was the ‘mastermind’ behind the murder. The killing was carried out by extremist leader Amanulla aka Shimul. Anar went to the apartment rented by Shaheen for a meeting the day after he reached Kolkata. The criminals killed him there.

The CID in West Bengal arrested a butcher called Jihad Howlader, who admitted to chopping up Anar’s body for disposal under Shaheen’s orders. Four more Bangladeshis helped him commit the crime, he said.

A team of Indian detective police came to Bangladesh on May 24 and interrogated the three arrestees. Then a three-membered team from the Detective Branch of police in Bangladesh went to Kolkata on May 25. They interrogated butcher Jihad and took him along on an inspection of the Sanjeeva Gardens apartment where Anar was said to have been killed.

While the DB officers were in Kolkata, some pieces of flesh were recovered from the septic tank of the apartment building.

West Bengal media reported that police learnt a lot about the murder by interrogating Siam.

The CID took Siam on a raid near a canal in Bijoyganj Bazar Thana and recovered bones from a bush in the area.

Citing Kolkata police, Indian media have reported that Siam helped dispose of the body in the canal after it was cut into pieces. Jihad had accompanied him at the time.

The Indian foreign ministry said it would provide ‘full support’ to Bangladesh for investigation of Anar’s killing.