They console me after killing my father, says slain MP’s daughter

Mumtarin Ferdous speaks at a human chain in Jhenaidah on 19 June 2024.Collected

Mumtarin Ferdous, daughter of the slain member of parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim from Jhenaidah-4, expressed grief over the hypocrisy of the killers who consoled her after the murder.

“The same people who murdered my father consoled me, saying they are by my side. They made me an orphan,” she told a human chain at Raghunathpur of Kaliganj in Jhenaidah Wednesday morning.

She, however, expressed her faith in the law enforcement agencies and said the real killers will be identified through the ongoing investigation.

“I have not blamed anyone since my father went missing. I just want justice for my father's murder. The police have arrested some people as per their need. An investigation is underway, and the real killers will be identified after the investigation,” she said.

The slain MP's daughter also mentioned that prime minister Sheikh Hasina promised her exemplary punishment for the killers of her father.

More than a thousand people from different areas formed the human chain, defying the rain. Mohibul Islam, chairman of Rakhalgachi Union Parishad (UP), presided over the programme, where local Awami League leaders, including Kaliganj upazila parishad chairman Jahangir Siddique and municipality mayor Ashraful Islam, spoke.

They highlighted Anwarul Azim's popularity and claimed his murder was a result of political vengeance.

Whoever is involved in this murder should be tracked down and subjected to exemplary punishment, they said.

MP Anwarul Azim was killed in a flat in Kolkata’s New Town area on 13 May. Four people have been arrested so far from Bangladesh in connection with the murder, while two others were arrested from Kolkata and Nepal.

Questioning the arrestees, the police came to know that MP Anwarul was killed over a smuggling-related dispute. US expat Md Akhtaruzzaman alias Shahin, brother of Kotchandpur municipality mayor, has been identified as the mastermind of the gruesome murder.

The intelligence officials involved in the investigation said Akhtaruzzaman hired a killer with Tk 50 million to kill MP Anwarul Azim Anar. Once notorious extremist leader Shimul Bhuiyan played a key role in the killing. Jhenaidah Awami League general secretary Saidul Karim Mintu’s name came up while questioning Shimul.

Later, the police detained Saidul Karim Mintu from the premises of a ruling party leader’s residence in the capital’s Dhanmondi area and took him to the DB office last week. 

When produced before the court, he was placed on an eight-day remand. The police completed interrogations within three days and sent him to jail.