Now political rivalry adds to the murder mystery
Gold smuggling, honey trap and narcotics, lots of theories have been floating around since the last few weeks over the murder of Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar in a Kolkata flat.
Now local political rivalry has come to the fore after detectives picked up Jhenaidah Awami League leader Kamal Ahmed Babu for interrogation.
The lawmaker's rivals might have been linked with the murder, as many are already trying to take nomination from the constituency.
Babu is the relief and social welfare affairs secretary of district AL.
Investigators are now trying to find out whether the gold racket, which is behind the murder of Azim, collaborated with his political rivals.
The Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has already made a list of suspects and picked up Kamal as part of the interrogation on Thursday night, said DB sources.
Kamal, who is a cousin of Aktaruzzaman, one of the masterminds behind the murder.
Harun Or Rashid, additional commissioner (DB) of the DMP, yesterday said, "Kamal is being interrogated on various important issues. He will be arrested if his involvement is found during the interrogation."
Ashraful Alam, mayor of Kaliganj municipality, informed The Daily Star that Kamal was one of the rivals of the lawmaker.
"The lawmaker's rivals might have been linked with the murder, as many are already trying to take nomination from the constituency," he said, adding, "We demand that the law enforcers look into this matter and reveal the identity of the real killers of the lawmaker."
Besides, the detectives have already sought bank account information of two others -- Taj Mohammad Khan, and Md Jamal Hossain alias Jamal Hazi.
Both are from Jheniadah and close aides of Aktaruzzaman.
Local sources said Taj and Jamal used to oversee Aktaruzzaman's businesses, including gold smuggling.
The two allegedly kept the gold consignments in Aktaruzzaman's farmhouse and then smuggled those out with the consent of lawmaker Azim.
Syed Al Mamun, officer-in-charge of the Kotchandpur Police Station, told this newspaper that Taj and Jamal are on the run.
Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed at his friend Gopal Biswas' house for a night. He went out the following day saying that he would visit a doctor. On May 22, India and Bangladesh police confirmed that the lawmaker was murdered.
Regarding the DNA test of the recovered body parts from the New Town's flat on May 28, DB chief Harun said the lawmaker's family members will go to India very soon.
On extraditing Aktaruzzaman from the US, Harun said, "We are working in this regard, and they [India] are working too. We have submitted relevant papers to the NCB [National Central Bureau] at the police headquarters, and the NCB have reported it to the Interpol."
Meanwhile, a Kolkata court yesterday granted a 14-day remand for Siam Hossain, one of the key suspects in the murder of Azim.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Mandakranta Mukherjee confirmed the development while addressing reporters outside the court premises yesterday.
"The police argued that they wanted to know other persons involved in the killing and their whereabouts. Besides, police also said Siam is an important person who knows the whereabouts of the body parts of MP Azim and what kind of weapons were used to kill him," she said.
Siam was produced before the court on Saturday after he was taken to India from Nepal.
Harun said Siam and Jihad Howlader knew about the murder of the lawmaker. They are also involved in dumping the body parts, he added.
"India has both of them now. Interrogating them will yield good results. If necessary, we will also interrogate Siam," he said.
Harun said they informed the NCB after learning that Siam was in Nepal, and the NCB immediately passed the information to their Nepal counterparts who eventually made the arrests.
[Our Jhenaidah correspondent also contributed to this report.]
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