Feud over gold stash behind murder

Slain lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar and key suspect Aktaruzzaman used to run a gold smuggling racket until they fell out over money and Azim kept a stash worth over Tk 100 crore to himself, detectives said.

Aktaruzzaman, known as Shaheen Mia in his hometown Jhenaidah, used to get gold bars smuggled into Bangladesh from Dubai, while Azim, the ruling Awami League lawmaker from Jhenaidah-4, made sure the shipment reached the hands of the right people in India, said the officers, requesting anonymity.

Sometime last year, Azim told his partner that he wanted a bigger cut of the money, according to sources in the Detective Branch and an intelligence agency.

"Azim-Aktaruzzaman partnership hit rock bottom after Azim received two stashes worth more than Tk 100 crore, but did not have them delivered to the designated location."

— An intelligence officer says on condition of anonymity

"Aktaruzzaman snubbed Azim's proposal, and it created a rift between the two," said an intelligence officer.

"The partnership hit rock bottom after Azim received two stashes worth more than Tk 100 crore, but did not deliver them," said the officer involved in the investigation.

Aktaruzzaman then started asking Azim for the money and recruited other people who could make the deliveries, said the investigators.

"The duo met several times in the last six months to settle the matter, and Azim persistently refused to pay Aktaruzzaman. The latter then decided to have him killed," an investigator said, citing information given by arrested suspects.

Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed the night at a friend's house. The following day, he left, saying he was going to see a doctor. He did not return, and the friend received a couple of texts from his mobile phone that said there was no need to call him.

On Wednesday, India and Bangladesh police said the MP was murdered in a flat in New Town, Kolkata.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Harun Or Rashid, additional commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, "The killers dismembered the body in such a way that it would be tough to identify it as human remains.

"They planned the murder two to three months ago and held multiple meetings at Aktaruzzaman's flats in Gulshan and Bashundhara. The suspects could not do it here because of DMP's vigilance."

As they were aware that the lawmaker often visited Kolkata, they made a fresh plan and rented a flat there on April 25, Harun said, quoting the arrested suspects.

"On April 30, Aktaruzzaman, his girlfriend, and Amanullah, the hitman, flew to Kolkata and went to the flat in New Town area. On May 13, when Azim left his friend Gopal Biswas's house, a suspect named Foysal picked him up in a white car and took him to the flat.

"The lawmaker entered the flat around 2:51pm, and the suspects executed their plan within the next half an hour. They kept Azim's phone active and sent messages to different people to fool the law enforcers."

On May 15, Amanullah and Aktaruzzaman's girlfriend returned to Bangladesh while the other suspects Mustafiz on May 16 and Foysal on May 17, he added.

Raju, a Kolkata taxi driver detained by West Bengal police, was hired to dispose of the body, detectives said.

Harun said Bangladesh police have arrested three suspects.

A four-member Indian police team arrived in Dhaka yesterday and called on Harun.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said he would tell the names of Azim's killers after talking to intelligence agencies of both countries.

"Only the announcement is due," he told reporters.

PLASTIC BAGS USED TO DUMP BODY

West Bengal CID sources told our New Delhi correspondent that they believe Azim's remains were put in plastic bags that were dumped at different locations.

"We also suspect that some parts were kept in a refrigerator. We have the samples," an officer said, requesting anonymity.

The CID has found bloodstains and plastic bags at the New Town flat, according to the officer.

"Rs 5 crore was paid by an old friend of the MP to kill him, the cab in which Azim travelled to the New Town flat was hired on April 30," he said adding, "This shows how the crime was planned long before the lawmaker arrived in Kolkata on May 12."

That taxi has been impounded, and West Bengal police have detained Zubair, who is thought to have been present during the crime.

After two men and a woman left the flat on May 14 with a large suitcase, which police suspect contained Azim's remains,  they got in the same taxi.

They got out of the cab in front of a mall in New Town.

Before that, the cab was parked in front of Nazrul Tirtha Auditorium in New Town for six minutes, sources said.

Police asked the taxi driver if he overheard conversations between the passengers.

"I did not recall," was the reported reply of the driver, according to the sources.

[Our Delhi Correspondent contributed to this report.]