Missing Bangladeshi lawmaker found murdered in India, says minister

DHAKA: A member of Bangladesh’s ruling party was found murdered in the Indian city of Kolkata on Wednesday morning, more than a week after he went missing, Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.

Anwarul Azim Anar, 56, who won his third consecutive term in a constituency in the border district of Jhenaidah from the Awami League party, went missing on May 13, a day after going to India for medical treatment, according to his relatives. Khan told reporters that three Bangladeshis were arrested over the lawmaker’s death.

Bangladesh police and Kolkata police were conducting a joint probe and could not “disclose all information at the moment for the sake of the investigation,” he said.

Indian police told Reuters on Wednesday that a murder case had been registered in the matter and the lawmaker’s body was yet to be recovered. “We have secured video footage from the housing complex where he was staying during the visit...some blood stains were also seen during the investigation,” said Akhilesh Chaturvedi, a senior police officer in the state of West Bengal, where Kolkata is located. Another senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said the assailants “may be” linked to terror outfits. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her condolences and deep grief over the lawmaker’s death.