An Awami League leader of Jhenidah met one of the killers of lawmaker Anwarul Azim Anar to learn about the details of the abduction and murder, police said.

Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu, the relief and social welfare affairs secretary of Jhenidah AL, on May 17 met with Amanullah inside a vehicle by Dhaka-Bhanga expressway in Faridpur and viewed photos of the crime scene, and they talked about how much money had changed hands over the assassination. 

This was mentioned in a report on the progress of the investigation police submitted to a Dhaka court yesterday.

Babu, known in his hometown as Babu, also had a WhatsApp conversation with Amanullah, who goes by the alias Shimul Bhuiyan, around 10:30pm the previous day, said the report by Senior Assistant Commissioner (DB) Mahfuzur Rahman, who is investigating the case.

Police arrested Babu in the capital's Sayedabad area on Saturday, taking the number of arrestees in the case to four. A court yesterday placed him on a 7-day remand.

Babu is also a cousin of Aktaruzzaman, one of the masterminds behind the murder.

Amanullah earlier admitted before a court that he was the coordinator among the people who took part in the killing of the Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker.

A top officer of DB, requesting anonymity, said, "Babu deleted most of the online conversation he had with Aktaruzzaman and Amanullah. We have evidence suggesting that he was involved with the planning of the abduction and murder."

Three other arrestees, Celesty Rahman, Amanullah, and Tanvir Bhuiyan, have made confessional statements and are in jail.

West Bengal CID arrested Jihad Howlader and Siam Hossain.

But Aktaruzzaman, who used to run a gold and narcotics smuggling racket with Azim, is believed to be in the US.

Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed at his friend Gopal Biswas' house for a night. He left the following day, saying that he would visit a doctor. On May 22, India and Bangladesh police said the lawmaker was murdered.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal CID yesterday recovered bones, suspected to be of the lawmaker, from the bank of a canal in the Kashipur area of South 24 Parganas district.

The recovery was made after CID officers interrogated Siam, who is now on a 14-day remand. Siam was brought to Kolkata after he was arrested in Nepal.

"We have recovered some bones. Prima facie, it appears to be human bones. We are sending them for forensic analysis," said A K Chaturvedi, inspector general of police (IG), West Bengal CID.

"The bones appear to be that of the human rib cage and arms. The skull was yet to be recovered."

West Bengal CID officials said that the spot from where the bones were recovered on the bank of the canal is about 15km away from the New Town apartment where the MP was killed and his body was dismembered.

"We have been searching this area for over two weeks based on the information provided by another accused Jihad Hawaldar, a butcher, arrested on May 23. Siam gave the specific location during interrogation," said another CID officer.

Earlier on May 28, some remains were recovered from a septic tank of the New Town apartment.