When a member of parliament dies, it is our parliamentary norm to place a condolence motion at the next session of the Jatiya Sangsad. According to media reports, though the member of parliament from Jhenaidah-4, Anwarul Azim, was murdered on 13 May in Kolkata, no condolence motion was made for him. The law enforcement agencies do not have proof that he was killed in Kolkata.
The killers hacked Anwarul Azim’s body to pieces and disposed of these in different locations so that his remains would not be found. Pieces of flesh were recovered from the septic tank of the house where Anwarul was killed. The CID there sent the flesh for forensic examination. The rotting meat was identified to be human flesh, though it has not been confirmed as yet whether this was of Anwarul. There needs to be proof that he has died or killed before a condolence motion can be placed in parliament.
Though Akhteruzzaman got US citizenship, he stayed in Bangladesh most of the time. He would bring gold from abroad and smuggle it by road to India. Over the past one year when several of his consignments were caught, he suspected Anwarul to be behind this
From preliminary evidence it has been said that Anwarul Azim was killed due to discord with his friend Akhteruzzaman Shaheen over gold smuggling. Akhteruzzaman had rented a flat in Kolkata for the purpose. He went to Kolkata before the murder and also held several meetings with the killers at his house in Gulshan, Dhaka.
According to Prothom Alo investigations, even before Anwarul Azim was killed, there were two more murders over gold smuggling consignments. An officer of the law enforcement working for long on the crime situation in the Jhenaidah region, told Prothom Alo, “It was Akhteruzzaman’s consignments that were mostly caught. In anger, his people leaked out information of a consignment of 4.5kg of gold on 17 January at Maheshpur. That consignment belonged to Anwarul Azim. In retaliation, Anwarul’s associate Tariqul Islam (Akele) shot dead two persons on that very same day in Baghadanga village in Maheshpur. Tariqul fled to India after that. This infuriated Akhteruzzaman against Anwarul even further.”
Speaking to a couple of journalists of the southwest region, it was learnt that gold smuggling was an open secret there. The people’s representatives and the administration all got a slice of the pie. Anwarul Azim had introduced a token system. If you showed your token, the police or BGB wouldn’t detain you. Did all the MPs and former MPs of the region get a cut from the business? One of the journalists replied that these payments were not made just in Jashore, but those in Khulna received a share too.
Akhteruzzaman and Anwarul were friends since childhood. Though Akhteruzzaman got US citizenship, he stayed in Bangladesh most of the time. He would bring gold from abroad and smuggle it by road to India. Over the past one year when several of his consignments were caught, he suspected Anwarul to be behind this.
After Anwarul was killed, three were nabbed in Dhaka, one in India and one in Nepal. The deposition made by one of them, Shimul Bhuiyan, revealed horrific details. Based on his statements, first of all Jhenaidah district Awami League’s relief and social welfare secretary Kazi Kamal Ahmed alias Babu was arrested. Then based on his statement, next Jhenaidah Awami League’s general secretary and former municipal mayor Saidul Karim alias Mintu was arrested. Both of them have been taken on remand.
So, two powerful Jhenaidah district Awami League leaders have been arrested in connection to Anwarul’s murder. This led case to a new direction. Awami League is now divided in Jhenaidah. One side is demanding justice regarding the murder. The other side is demanding that Awami League leader Saidul Karim be released.
In the remand appeal for Saidul it was stated that the extremist leader of Khulna, Shimul Bhuiyan, had made a confessional statement in court regarding the killing of Anwarul. He had said that On 5 or 6 May, the mastermind behind Anwarul’s murder, Akhteruzzaman, had a WhatsApp conversation with Shimul Bhuiyan.
According to officials involved in the investigations, Akhteruzzaman had hired killers for Tk 50 million to murder the MP. The main role played in the murder was by Shimul, who had at one time been an extremist leader in Khulna region. The name of Jhenaidah Awami League leader Saidul came up in his statement. “AL leader Mintu assured killers of payment,” read the 14 June headlines of The Daily Star. This assurance was made during the WhatsApp conversation on 5 or 6 May between Akhteruzzaman and Saidul.
Jhenaidah Awami League leader Kamal Ahmed alias admitted that he met with Shimul after Anwarul was killed and spoke about the payment over phone. Akhteruzzaman sent a picture to Kamal Ahmed through Shimul of the MP tied up and gagged. This picture has gone viral on social media now.
Kamal Ahmed is Akhteruzzaman’s cousin. He said that a part of the money that was to be paid for the murder was supposed to be taken from Saidul on 23 May and handed over. Local Awami League men said Saidul was Anwarul’s political rival and aspired to be MP in the future.
So did he help in the murder in the interests of his own political future? Akhteruzzaman put this opportunity to use.
According to Shimul, a certain Bangladeshi politician was supposed to make a payment of Tk 20 million. Of this, Tk 2 million was supposed to be paid when the killers came back from Kolkata. The remaining Tk 18 million was supposed to be paid on 26 May and 29 May.
Was the politician to whom Shimul referred Saidul, or anyone else? If it is not Saidul, then one cannot dismiss that a third leader is involved in the Anwarul killing.
The home minister Asaduzzaman himself said that the Anwarul murder case was taking a new turn. When asked what involvement Saidul or Kamal Ahmed had in the murder he said, “We have come near uncovering the truth. Once the dead body is indentified, we will be able to reveal a lot.”
But many investigations come near the truth and then halt. Will that happen in the case of Anwarul Azim’s murder too?
* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor at Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be contacted at [email protected]
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir