Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 22 (ANI): A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the alleged killing of Bangladeshi Member of Parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anar, officials said.
The Bangladeshi MP, who entered India on May 12, was last seen on the afternoon of May 13 when he went with friends to a home in Bidhannagar near Kolkata for a medical check-up. He was found dead in West Bengal’s Kolkata on Wednesday.
Akhilesh Chaturvedi, an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in the Crime Investigation Department (CID), said that after the MP went missing, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged the West Bengal government to investigate this case.
“Anwarul Azim Anar visited here and had been missing since May 13. His daughter tried to contact him but she failed. After that, a missing person’s complaint was filed at Baranagar Police Station here. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the case. We are trying our level best to solve this case. CID is investigating this matter,” the IGP (I) CID told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said in a news conference in Dhaka that the MP was killed in Kolkata.
Speaking to reporters at his residence on Wednesday, the minister said that Bangladesh Police have arrested three persons in connection with the case, reported the Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star. “So far, we have come to know that all the killers involved are Bangladeshis. It was a planned murder,” he said.
Asked about the whereabouts of the body, he said that they were yet to know about it. “We will soon inform you about the motive,” the minister said, adding that Indian police are cooperating with the case.
Shaban Mahmood, Minister (Press), High Commission for Bangladesh in New Delhi, India said, “As our Home Minister has announced, so I definitely believe that this has happened…But we still don’t have any authentic information from the Government of India. So, we will have to wait. But we apprehend that he may have been killed or assassinated because our Home Minister has already announced it…There might be several reasons behind it. But we don’t have any clear information.”
“He was a very frequent traveller to Kolkata and had good relations with the people in Kolkata. He has a very close friend – Gopal Vishwas. Maybe, he came here for treatment or business purposes or any other issue. We don’t know…His daughter is trying to come to Kolkata today,” he said.
Azim’s family members are also set to arrive in Kolkata for further formalities, and their visa process is underway.
According to a family friend in Kolkata’s Bidhannagar, the MP mentioned he would be traveling to Delhi, but there has been no physical presence or direct contact with him since May 13. Only mobile messages have been exchanged with his family in Dhaka and his friend in Bidhannagar, indicating his intended journey to Delhi.
Concerned by the lack of communication and his sudden alleged disappearance, the MP’s family friend, Gopal Viswas, who was informed by the MP’s daughter of her inability to contact her father, lodged a missing person complaint at the Baranagar police station in Bidhannagar, Kolkata.
“On the morning of May 16, he (Anwarul Azim Anar) called his assistant, but could not connect. Later, when his PA called him back, he did not answer,” according to the complaint dated May 18, 2024.
“His daughter called me (Viswas), and said, I can’t communicate with my father. Then I (Viswas) contacted all his (Anarul Azim’s) acquaintances on the phone, but it was not possible to contact him,” it added.
“I was then requested to come to Baranagar police station on May 18 to register the complaint in the missing diary,” a copy of the complaint said.
Azim Anar was the Awami League lawmaker from the Jhenaidah-4 constituency.
Further updates on the circumstances surrounding the MP’s death in Kolkata are anticipated as the situation unfolds. (ANI)
