Getty Kolkata, India.
Police believe Anwarul Azim Anar, a lawmaker from Bangladesh who disappeared in India, was skinned and “chopped into pieces” after being lured to his death by a “honey trap,” according to News18.
News18 is “a partnership between TV18, one of India’s leading television broadcast networks and CNN International,” according to its website. The politician was last seen on May 22 “at a rented accommodation in New Town near Kolkata,” the site reported.
As for the “honey trap” scenario, a police source told Times of India, “Investigation indicated that the Bangladeshi parliamentarian fell into a honey trap laid by a woman who was also close to the victim’s friend. It seems that Anar was lured into the New Town flat by the woman.” The Times of India reported that police suspect the lawmaker was “honey-trapped.”
The police source said the death was a “well-planned murder” by contract killers, according to Times of India.
The victim is a member of Parliament in Bangladesh, News18 reported. Anar disappeared on May 13 after going to India for medical treatment, according to Al Jazeera.
Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed to Al Jazeera that Anar, 56, a three-time elected MP, was murdered.
Police Believe That Some of Anwarul Azim Anar’s Body Parts ‘Were Kept in a Refrigerator’
According to News18, West Bengal police have obtained CCTV footage “linked to an apartment near Kolkata,” where Anar was last seen.
The video shows Anar entering the apartment with a man and a woman who then left and re-entered, but the politician was not seen again, the Times of India reported. The pair then left the apartment with the large suitcase, the news site reported. Police believed that some of the politician’s body parts “were kept in a refrigerator” and others were “scattered at different locations,” Times of India reported.
Police sources told News18 that the video shows two men “with a green trolley bag and plastic packets,” and they fear that Anar was “chopped into pieces — his skin peeled and bones cut — and carried out in bags and plastic packets.”
#WATCH | West Bengal Police CID team conducts a search operation in the Bhangar area, in connection with the murder case of Bangladeshi MP Anwarul Azim Anar.
More details awaited.
However, Khan told AlJazeera that Anar’s body was “found in an abandoned house” in Kolkata, and added, “We cannot disclose all information at the moment for the sake of the investigation.” Three suspects are under arrest, the news site reported. The cause of death was not given, AlJazeera reported. That report did not describe whether Anar’s body was intact or found in pieces, however.
NDTV reported that it’s possible the MP “was first strangulated and killed after which his body was chopped into pieces and dumped at different areas.”
NDTV reported that police had arrested a butcher who “admitted during interrogation that he had helped the other accused in chopping the victim’s body before disposing of the parts in different locations.”
Police Believe a U.S. Citizen Was the ‘Mastermind’ of the Murder, Which Was Planned for Months, Reports Say
Stomach-turning details of the murder of Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anwar in Kolkata: Body was found skinned, minced, bones broken into pieces, filled in plastic bags and disposed across the city.
NDTV described Anar as “a three-time parliamentarian from the Jhenaidah-4 segment in Bangladesh and also the president of Awami League’s Kaliganj sub-district unit.”
In court, police identified the accused as Tanvir, Shimul Bhuiyan and Silisti Rahma, according to NDTV.
#WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal: An accused arrested in connection with the murder case of Bangladeshi MP Anwarul Azim Anar brought to Barasat District and Sessions Court by West Bengal State Police Intelligence Department CID
Citing Bangladesh police, NDTV reported that Bhuiyan was “a leader of the outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party,” who had changed his name and “obtained a fake passport” to arrange the killing.
NDTV reported that police believe the slaying had been planned for months in houses owned by accused “mastermind and the MP’s close friend Aktaruzzaman Shahin,” who is an American citizen. He paid the other accused suspects to participate, NDTV reported.
Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar was allegedly killed in an apartment in Kolkata. Investigations have stated that he was likely lured by a woman & then murdered by contract killers. Kamalika Sengupta is here with more
The motive was not disclosed.