The plan to kill Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar was designed in Dhaka and the perpetrators took two to three months to execute the murder plan, intelligence sources said.
The perpetrators held a series of meetings at two flats belonging to the primary planner, Akhtaruzzaman Shahin, located in Gulshan and Bashundhara residential areas.
DMP Additional Commissioner and Chief of Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid made the disclosure to reporters at the DB office on Minto Road in the capital on Thursday.
The DB chief said that the victim, MP Anar, frequently travelled to Kolkata. Consequently, the plan was taken in Dhaka to execute the killing on Kolkata soil.
As per the plan, main perpetrator Amanullah Aman along with his accomplice Tanveer Bhuiyan and Akhtaruzzaman’s girlfriend, Shilasti Rahman, went to Kolkata on May 30. Upon arrival, they relocated to a duplex flat in Sanjeeva Gardens in the Newtown area, which had been pre-rented for this purpose.
Akhtaruzzaman's two associates Siam and Jihad were already residing in Kolkata. From there, they orchestrated the plan to kill MP Anar. Despite the main killer being named Shimul Bhuiyan, he traveled there with a new passport, posing as Amanullah Aman.
The DB chief further revealed that Akhtaruzzaman returned to the country on May 10 after entrusting Amanullah with the full task to kill MP Anar.
Akhtaruzzaman was already aware that MP Anar would be traveling to Kolkata on May 12. Anar went to Kolkata through Darshana border in Chuadanga on that day and spent the first night at his friend Gopal’s house. The following day on May 13, the perpetrators lured the victim MP Anar into the flat in Newtown.
DB official Harun-Or-Rashid said a person named Faisal picked up MP Anar in a white car around noon on May 13. Subsequently, main killers Amanullah alias Shimul Bhuiyan and Faisal accompanied Anar to his flat. Later, another person named Mostafiz entered the flat.
Two others involved in the murder, Jihad and Siam, were there. MP Anar went to house at 2:51 pm. At that time, they also asked the MP to pay Akhtaruzzaman’s dues. At one stage of the argument about the matter, everyone killed Anar by suffocating him with a pillow. They completed the killing in just half an hour. After the murder, Amanullah told the matter to Akhtaruzzaman.
DB Harun said as per the instruction of Akhtaruzzaman, MP Anar was cut into pieces to hide his body. Then two big trolley bags and polythene were brought from the shopping mall near the flat. After that, the body was cut into pieces, mixed with turmeric, put in a travel bag and taken out at different times on different days. They clean the blood stains in the house by sprinkling bleaching powder.
Amanullah’s confession and analysis CCTV footage it was seen that Amanullah left the house with a trolley bag in the afternoon after the murder. During the interrogation, three told the police that he left the house and handed over the trolley bag to Siam in front of a nearby shopping mall. Siam took the bag and left for an unknown destination in a pre-rented car. Another bag was at home. Bad smell also started spreading from that bag. Akhtaruzzaman came to Dhaka with Shilasti on May 15, instructing his associates to drop the trolley somewhere else.
The DB chief said that there is very little hope of getting the body, but we are still trying to recover at least some parts.
The perpetrator of the murder, Amanullah, is a pseudonym, his name is Shimul Bhuiyan. He is the leader of East Bengal Communist Party. Currently Amanullah and planner Akhtaruzzaman’s girlfriend Shilasti Rahman are detained by DB. The entire incident of the murder is known from them.
He said that Akhtaruzzaman’s girlfriend Shilasti and murderer Amanullah returned to Dhaka on May 15 and Mustafiz on May 16 after killing MP Anar. After that Akhtaruzzaman, the master planner, left for Kathmandu via Delhi through Vistara Airlines. Currently he is absconding.
Harun mentioned that on the May 18, Gopal Biswas filed a complaint about the disappearance of his friend Anar. Subsequently, the perpetrators attempted to obfuscate the situation by placing calls and sending messages from the victim’s mobile phone. Among these was a message purportedly sent from MP Anar’s phone, claiming that he was departing for Delhi after May 18.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said “We have almost identified those who killed Jhenaidah MP Anwarul Azim Anar. All we have to do is announce. I will announce if the intelligence agencies of the two countries agree.”
He said these things in response to a question from journalists in the meeting room of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Secretariat on Thursday.
The Home Minister stated, “We have not recovered the body yet. What you have heard, we have also heard. I can't officially tell you anything until the body is recovered. The intelligence agencies of both countries are working on this. Anwarul Azim is our three-time MP from the Jhenaidah-4 Constituency. That border area is terror-ridden, and he represents that area. It is not right to speculate on the cause of the murder without confirmation. We will confirm the details first, then inform you accordingly.”
He further stated, “So far, no new information has come to us. We are collaborating with our police, intelligence agencies, as well as the Indian police and intelligence agencies to gather more information. We are certain that he was killed, as we have heard this directly from those responsible for the act. However, the body has not yet been recovered, and efforts are underway to locate it.”
He added, “At this moment, we are unable to provide any new update. No news has reached us so far. However, I can confirm that we are close to identifying the perpetrators.”
The minister emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating,
“The murder of a respected member of parliament is a matter of utmost seriousness. We are handling this issue with highest priority, and everyone, including the Prime Minister, is closely monitoring the situation. We hope to provide you with further information soon.”
Meanwhile, sources involved in the investigation revealed that MP Anar's childhood friend and business partner Akhtaruzzaman Shahin planned to kill him over a business dispute. Akhtaruzzaman, a resident of Jhenaidah and a US citizen, has a brother named Sahiduzzaman, who is the mayor of Kotchandpur municipality in Jhenaidah.
