Saidul Karim Mintu, general secretary of Jhenaidah Awami League, assured one of the masterminds of MP Anwarul Azim Anar murder that he would pay after the job was done.

The assurance came when Mintu talked to Aktaruzzaman Shahin over WhatsApp on May 5 or 6.

On June 5, Amanullah alias Shimul Bhuiyan, the coordinator of the killing mission, confessed this before a Dhaka court.

Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu, relief and social welfare affairs secretary of Jhenaidah AL, who is now on a seven-day remand, told investigators that he met and discussed Amanullah in person and over phone over the payment after the murder.

Babu and Amanullah even exchanged photos of the murder over mobile phones.

Babu, a cousin of Akhtaruzzaman and close to Mintu, was supposed to pay Amanullah a portion of the blood money on May 23 after collecting it from Mintu.

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police mentioned the information in an investigation progress report to a Dhaka court yesterday. The court also placed Mintu on an eight-day remand after the investigators sought a 10-day remand for him.

Mintu was shown arrested in connection with the murder of Jhenaidah-4 (Kaliganj) MP Azim.

Locals said Mintu had a political rivalry with MP Azim.

An investigator told The Daily Star yesterday that a Bangladeshi politician was supposed to pay Tk 2 crore for the murder.

MP Azim was murdered a month ago, but investigators were yet to specify the motive behind the killing. Five people, including two AL leaders, were arrested in the abduction case filed in Bangladesh and two others in the murder case lodged in India.

Besides, the body of MP Azim was yet to be identified.

Law enforcers of India have recovered human flesh and some bones. But it could not be ascertained whether those were of MP Azim.

Azim's daughter is yet to get the green signal to go to India for DNA test, said Abdur Rouf, personal secretary of MP Azim.

Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed at a friend's home 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.

Updating the investigating progress, Harun Or Rashid, additional commissioner (DB) of the DMP, yesterday said they learnt from Amanullah's statement that Aktaruzzaman contacted a Bangladeshi politician on May 6 over the phone for Tk 2 crore for the killing.

"Of the money, Tk 20 lakh was supposed to be paid to the [killers] upon their return to Bangladesh and the remaining Tk 1.80 crore was to be paid between May 26 and May 29," he told reporters.

After the killing of MP Azim, the killers returned to Bangladesh, and Aktaruzzaman fled to the US, he said.

Aktaruzzaman appointed Amanullah to coordinate the killing while Mintu appointed Babu for communication with the killers about payments, said Harun.

"We will now try to know why Babu on behalf of Mintu contacted Amanullah upon his return to Bangladesh on May 15 after the killing. We will also want to know why Mintu did not inform the law enforcers despite seeing the photo of murdered MP Azim on Babu's mobile phone," he added.