MP Azim murder: DB team to leave for India within 24 hours

A team of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is set to leave for Kolkata within 24 hours as part of the ongoing investigation into the MP Anwarul Azim Anar murder case as well as to help recover his body.

The delegation will be led by DB chief Harun or Rashid.

They have already obtained official permission from the relevant authorities, the DB chief confirmed the matter during a press briefing at the DB office in the capital's Mintoo Road today (25 May).

Earlier, on 23 May, a four-member Indian police delegation visited Dhaka to piece together evidence in the murder case.

Indian intelligence officials, in collaboration with Bangladeshi counterparts, have been meticulously investigating the case. However, the lack of recovery of body parts or murder weapons poses a significant challenge, as noted by a Bangladeshi Detective Branch official closely involved in the investigation.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal, spearheading the investigation, discovered blood stains inside a New Town flat, alongside several plastic bags believed to have been used in disposing of the body parts. However, multiple drives conducted by Kolkata police failed to locate any body parts scattered across different parts of the city.

The same day, the state CID arrested Jihad Hawladar, a Bangladeshi national working as a butcher in Mumbai, in connection with the murder. Hawladar confessed to his role in the crime, alleging that he was brought to Kolkata by Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, an alleged mastermind residing in the US.

During the investigation, Jihad allegedly told police that after killing Azim, the group proceeded to skin the body, remove all the flesh, and mince it to obliterate any possibility of identification, reports NDTV.

The remains were then packed into plastic bags and dropped across the city.

As investigations continue, CCTV footage obtained by The Business Standard captures crucial moments involving the suspects - professional butcher Jihad Hawladar, 24 and Syed Amanullah alias Shimul Bhuiyan - leaving the New Town apartment where the crime allegedly took place.

Despite extensive efforts, including searches near the New Town area and a village near Kolkata, authorities have yet to find additional body parts. 

Police recovered some parts of the dismembered body of Anwarul Azim Anar on Wednesday (22 May), eight days after he went missing in India on 14 May. He went there on 11 May for medical treatment.

The murder of Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar in Kolkata has shocked both Bangladesh and India, with law enforcement agencies from both countries investigating the incident. 

According to legal experts, the trial can take place in either country.

"The murder case could be prosecuted in either country based on the consensus between the law enforcement agencies of both nations," Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Tapas Kanti Baul told The Business Standard.