Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League (AL) MP Anwarul Azim Anar was murdered in Kolkata last month to clear the way for a party rival to contest from his seat in the by-election, one of the accused has confessed in court.
Accused Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu, an Awami League activist, admitted to court that he was involved in the murder of the Jhenaidah-4 MP, Bangladesh news outlet The Daily Star reported on Saturday.
According to court sources quoted in the report, Babu said he was close to the general secretary of Jhenaidah district AL Saidul Karim Mintu, and wanted him to get the ticket from the Jhenaidah-4 parliamentary seat, from which Azim had won thrice in a row.
The sources said Mintu, now on an eight-day remand with the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), tried to get the party ticket from the constituency in the last two national polls, but failed because of Azim.
In 2022, Azim also wanted to become district AL general secretary, which further intensified the rivalry between the two.
Babu, relief and social welfare affairs secretary of Jhenaidah distict Awami League, said the plan to kill Azim was made to clear Mintu’s path to party nomination.
Babu also admitted to having communications on WhatsApp with Amanullah alias Shimul Bhuiyan, on May 16, a day after Amanullah returned to Bangladesh from Kolkata after the killing.
The duo then met in Amanullah’s vehicle on the Bhanga Expressway in Faridpur on May 17 to settle how the blood money will be paid, the report said.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police disclosed the summary of Babu’s interrogation in the investigation progress report to a Dhaka court yesterday.
DB Assistant Commissioner Mahfuzur Rahman, the investigation officer in the case, petitioned the court to record Babu’s confessional statement.
Then Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Jasim recorded Babu’s statement. The court later sent Babu to jail.
Besides Babu, three others — Amanullah, his nephew Tanvir Bhuiyan, and Celesty Rahman, a friend of Aktaruzzaman — earlier gave confessional statements in the case. They are now in jail.
Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and spent the night at a friend’s home. He left the following day, saying he would visit a doctor.
On May 22, India and Bangladesh police said the lawmaker was murdered.
