One of the prime suspects in the killing of Bangladesh lawmaker Anwarul Azim, Siam Hossain, has been detained in Nepal. A diplomatic source in Kathmandu confirmed Prothom Alo that the Nepal police detained him on Thursday.
It has been learnt that diplomatic efforts are already underway on behalf of the Bangladesh mission in Nepal to bring back Siam to the country.
Several reliable officials also confirmed the development saying they too have unofficially been informed about it. However, they are yet to come up with the official announcement.
A source relevant to the investigation said Siam played a major role in the disappearance of the body after killing Anwarul Azim on 13 May. He flew to Nepal afterwards.
Akteruzzaman Shahin, the mastermind behind the killing according to the police, also went to Kathmandu from Dhaka through Delhi on 20 May. Later he moved to Dubai. From there, he flew back to the US.
Detained Siam is from Borhanuddin in Bhola. He is one of Akteruzzaman’s assistants, sources relevant to the investigation said.
The Kolkata Police has lodged a case with New Town Police station over the killing of MP Anwarul Azim. Meanwhile, the victim’s daughter Mumtarin Ferdaus filed another case with the Shere-e-Bangla Nagar police station in Dhaka. The Kolkata police and the detective branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are investigating the case in collaboration. So far, four persons have been arrested, three in Dhaka and one from Kolkata. In this situation, the Kolkata police are also in touch with the Nepal police over this, a Kathmandu source said.
However, prime suspect Shimul Bhuiyan and two other accused are on remand at the moment. Bangladesh too has contacted the Nepal police to extradite Siam to Bangladesh for the verification of the information given by the three suspects on remand.
Speaking to the newspersons Friday, DMP additional commissioner (DB) Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid said the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has alerted the Interpol and provided other relevant information, including passport and phone numbers of Akteruzzaman and Siam.
The DB police have been constantly in touch with the Bangladesh missions in USA and Nepal to bring these two prime suspects. Bangladesh also has sought help from India in this regard.
Sources involved in the investigation say before the killing Akteruzzaman went to Kolkata with Shimul Bhuiyan, top terrorist and leader of a banned extremist outfit based in Khulna and a woman named Shilasti Rahman.
Akteruzzaman returned to Dhaka on 10 May after finalsing the plot to kill. On 13 May, Lawmaker Azim was killed in a flat rented by him in Kolkata. Later, a local person named Gopal Biswas filed a general diary (GD) with the Baranagar police station over this on 18 May.
In the face of massive discussions surrounding the killing, Akteruzzaman flew to Kathmandu from Dhaka through Delhi on 20 May.
According to a source in Kathmandu, Akteruzzaman held a meeting with his assistant Siam in Nepal. He moved to Dubai and eventually returned to the USA from there.
Three accused put on five-day remand again
Meanwhile, Shimul Bhuiya, his nephew Tanvir Bhuiyan and Shilasti Rahman have been on a five-day remand again at the end of an eight-day remand Friday.
Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court's magistrate Shanto Islam Mallik passed the order yesterday.