Bangladesh

Plot thickens over AL MP Azim going missing

MP Azim's daughter files abduction case
Anwarul Azim

Intelligence agencies fear the worst for Awami League MP Anwarul Azim Anar who has gone missing in India, said a source in a local law enforcement agency.

"An Indian security agency has collected the details of four suspects. It also detained one for interrogation," the source told The Daily Star.

Contacted, officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and the Deputy High Commission in Kolkata yesterday said they were yet to receive any official confirmation from the Indian government about the Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker's status and whereabouts.

Speaking to this newspaper last night, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "We are hopeful we will be able to solve the mystery within a day or two."

Asked about the unconfirmed information that something very bad might have happened to Azim, the home boss said, "We too have heard the same, but we are yet to get any confirmation."

The MP's personal assistant, Abdur Rouf, had no information about his whereabouts till last night.

"MP's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen will visit the Indian High Commission in Dhaka tomorrow [today] to seek an Indian visa. She will travel to Kolkata as soon as she is granted the visa," he said.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Asaduzzaman said, "The MP went to India after crossing the immigrations in Bangladesh and India properly. All government agencies are working on the matter.

"The National Security Intelligence, and the Special Branch of police are working with the Indian police and intelligence agencies," he told reporters at the Secretariat in the afternoon.

The three-time MP went to India on May 12 on a personal visit to receive treatment. A general diary was filed with Baranagar Police Station in North Kolkata on May 18 regarding his going missing.

According to the GD, Azim, also the president of Kaliganj upazila AL, went to his family friend Gopal Biswas' home in Kolkata around 7:00pm on May 12. At 1:41pm the following day, he left Gopal's home to visit a doctor. He had said he would return in the evening.

He boarded a taxi in front of the Calcutta Public School at Bidhan Park.

In the evening, Azim in a WhatsApp message told Gopal that he was going to Delhi and would call him after reaching there. The lawmaker also mentioned in the message that Gopal need not call him, reads the GD.

On May 15, Azim in another WhatsApp message informed that he reached Delhi and was with VIPs and there was no need to call him. He forwarded the same message to his personal assistant Rouf.

On May 17, Doreen called Gopal saying that she could not contact her father. The MP has been traceless since then, the GD added.

According to the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission by the MP before the January 7 national election, he stood accused in 21 cases between 2000 and 2008. However, he was cleared in all those cases at different times.

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Plot thickens over AL MP Azim going missing

MP Azim's daughter files abduction case
Anwarul Azim

Intelligence agencies fear the worst for Awami League MP Anwarul Azim Anar who has gone missing in India, said a source in a local law enforcement agency.

"An Indian security agency has collected the details of four suspects. It also detained one for interrogation," the source told The Daily Star.

Contacted, officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and the Deputy High Commission in Kolkata yesterday said they were yet to receive any official confirmation from the Indian government about the Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker's status and whereabouts.

Speaking to this newspaper last night, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "We are hopeful we will be able to solve the mystery within a day or two."

Asked about the unconfirmed information that something very bad might have happened to Azim, the home boss said, "We too have heard the same, but we are yet to get any confirmation."

The MP's personal assistant, Abdur Rouf, had no information about his whereabouts till last night.

"MP's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen will visit the Indian High Commission in Dhaka tomorrow [today] to seek an Indian visa. She will travel to Kolkata as soon as she is granted the visa," he said.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Asaduzzaman said, "The MP went to India after crossing the immigrations in Bangladesh and India properly. All government agencies are working on the matter.

"The National Security Intelligence, and the Special Branch of police are working with the Indian police and intelligence agencies," he told reporters at the Secretariat in the afternoon.

The three-time MP went to India on May 12 on a personal visit to receive treatment. A general diary was filed with Baranagar Police Station in North Kolkata on May 18 regarding his going missing.

According to the GD, Azim, also the president of Kaliganj upazila AL, went to his family friend Gopal Biswas' home in Kolkata around 7:00pm on May 12. At 1:41pm the following day, he left Gopal's home to visit a doctor. He had said he would return in the evening.

He boarded a taxi in front of the Calcutta Public School at Bidhan Park.

In the evening, Azim in a WhatsApp message told Gopal that he was going to Delhi and would call him after reaching there. The lawmaker also mentioned in the message that Gopal need not call him, reads the GD.

On May 15, Azim in another WhatsApp message informed that he reached Delhi and was with VIPs and there was no need to call him. He forwarded the same message to his personal assistant Rouf.

On May 17, Doreen called Gopal saying that she could not contact her father. The MP has been traceless since then, the GD added.

According to the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission by the MP before the January 7 national election, he stood accused in 21 cases between 2000 and 2008. However, he was cleared in all those cases at different times.

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