Kolkata: Anwarul Azim, a Member of Parliament (MP) from Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League, who allegedly had gone missing on 18 May, was found dead in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan in a news conference in Dhaka said the MP was killed in Kolkata. Speaking to reporters, the minister said the Bangladesh Police had arrested three people in this connection with the murder.
“So far, we have come to know that all the killers involved are Bangladeshis. It was a planned murder,” the Bangladesh home minister said. Asked about the whereabouts of the body, he said they were yet to know about it.
“We will soon inform you about the motive,” the minister said, adding that the Indian police were cooperating with the case.
Anwarul Azim came to India on 12 May and was last seen the next afternoon when he went with friends to a home in Bidhannagar near Kolkata for a medical check-up.
According to a family friend in Kolkata’s Bidhannagar, the MP mentioned he would be travelling to Delhi, but there has been no physical presence or direct contact with him since 13 May. 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 disappearance, the MP’s family friend, Gopal Viswas, who was informed by the MP’s daughter of her inability to contact him, lodged a missing person complaint at the Baranagar police station in Bidhannagar.
“On the morning of 16 May, he (Anwarul Azim) 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.
“His daughter called me (Viswas), and said, I can’t communicate with my father. Then I contacted all his 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 18 May to register the complaint in the missing diary,” a copy of the complaint said.
Azim 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.
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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