The body of the MP, who is believed to have been killed at a rented flat in the city’s New Town area on May 13, is yet to be found. The police said Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, a childhood friend and business partner of Azim, is suspected to be the murder mastermind. A US citizen of Bangladesh origin, Akhtaruzzaman had allegedly taken the New Town flat on rent, and hired a woman, identified as Silasti Rehman, a butcher Jihad Hawaldar and two others to execute the plan.

While four arrests have been made in the case till now, Akhtaruzzaman and three other accused in the case are still at large, police said.
Talking to media persons at the Kolkata airport, Harun-or-Rashid, who is also the DMP additional commissioner, said “We will seek help from the Interpol to bring back Akhtaruzzaman, the fugitive mastermind behind Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar’s death…

Akhtaruzzaman may have escaped from Kathmandu to the US via Dubai. We are trying to trace him through Interpol. We will go to the CID office and meet the officers. We will try to interrogate the arrested accused so that we can get more information.”

According to sources, the DMP officers will also be interrogating Hawaldar, who allegedly skinned Azim’s body, chopped it into small pieces and packed them in polythene bags to be dumped at separate places within the city limits. On Sunday, the CID also conducted search operations to find the body parts by throwing nets in parts of the Bagjola canal near Jirengacha and Krishnamati Setu.

Sources said the weapon used to kill Azim is yet to be found. There is a possibility that Azim fell out with Akhtaruzzaman over the proceeds of a gold business. We learnt that Azim used to trade gold with Akhtaruzzaman, a source said.

A member of the ruling Awami League party in Bangladesh, Azim had arrived in India for medical treatment on May 12.