The case of an Bangladesh MP's disappearance in West Bengal's Kolkata is unfolding like a grapevine, with investigators probing the alleged "murder" of the lawmaker. The state CID has now detained one person for his involvement in the "crime".
Citing police, news agency PTI reported that the deceased MP, Anwarul Azim Anar, might have been 'honey-trapped' before his said murder.
Anar, who arrived in Kolkata on May 12 to undergo medical treatment, went missing on May 13. The search for the lawmaker began after one Gopal Biswas, a Baranagar resident in north Kolkata and Anar's acquaintance, filed a complaint with the local police on May 18.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Wednesday said that Anar was found murdered, adding that three people have been arrested.
THE CASE SO FAR | UPDATES
ONE PERSON DETAINED: The West Bengal CID on Thursday evening detained a person for his alleged involvement in Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar's "murder". Resident of a West Bengal area close to the Bangladesh international border, the detained person had met one of the key accused in the murder case, an official said. Further probe is underway to unearth the reason behind the meeting between the key accused and the detainee who remains unidentified.
LAWMAKER 'HONEY-TRAPPED': Police now suspect that the Bangladeshi lawmaker could have been "lured" into a flat in Kolkata's New Town area by a woman and then murdered by contract killers. "Investigation indicated that the Bangladeshi parliamentarian fell into a honey trap laid by a woman who was also close to the victim's friend," an officer said.
The woman, who might have been used to lure Anar, has been detained in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka. According to an India Today report, the woman -- Shilanti Rahman, is a Bangladesh national and the girlfriend of the prime accused Akhtaruzzaman Shahin.
The official said that the CID is examining the CCTV footage which showed Anar entering the flat with a man and a woman. "The duo were seen coming out and again re-entering the flat the next day, but the MP was not seen again," an officer told PTI. Cops said that the two were later seen exiting the flat with a big trolley suitcase.
RS 5 CRORE, WELL-PLANNED MURDER: Initially it was found that the Awami League MP's close friend, a US citizen, had paid Rs 5 crore to those involved in the crime. A senior police officer said that Anar's friend owns a flat in Kolkata and is probably in the States at the moment. Another officer described the crime as a "well-planned" murder, adding that a huge sum of money, Rs 5 crore, was paid to the contract killers for the crime.
HORRIFYING DETAILS: The West Bengal CID had found blood stains and several plastic bags inside the New Town flat. They believed that the bags were used to dump the body parts. They claimed that circumstantial evidence suggested that the Bangladeshi lawmaker was first strangulated and then chopped up into several pieces.
"We suspect that after killing Anar, the murderers mutilated the body, segregated the flesh from the bones and mixed those with turmeric powder to delay decomposition," cops said.
Notably, the arrest of an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant, Jihad Hawladar, from Mumbai, led to the revelation of gruesome details of Anar's murder. He allegedly told police that the lawmaker was smothered to death, then skinned to remove all the flesh and finally minced to ensure the dismissal of any identification chances, NDTV report said.
Then, the officer said, the mutilated body parts were probably put inside plastic bags as well as the trolley suitcase and scattered at multiple locations. "We also suspect that some parts were kept in a refrigerator and we have collected samples," he said, adding that search for the body parts was underway.
MESSAGES TO NOT CONTACT MP: Officials in the case also said messages were sent from Anar's mobile phone to some of his contacts, asking them to "not contact him as he was travelling to Delhi". They said it seemed that the messages were intended at confusing the MP's friends and family. "There is a possibility that these messages were sent after his murder," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
