MP Anwarul Azim killed for Gold Smuggling

Anwarul Azim, an elected Member of parliament in Bangladesh representing the Jhenaidah-4 district, was brutally killed in Kolkata.

He had a history of smuggling goods at the border areas of Jhenaidah forty years ago.

He later got active in politics and rose through the ranks to become a town councilor, upazila head, and finally, a member of parliament.

But he couldn't leave the group of people who were carrying drugs. He was killed because of a fight over drugs.

People who work for the police say that those who are responsible for killing Anwarul Azim are also criminals.

Akhtaruzzaman, also known as Shahin, was Anwarul Azim's childhood friend and the main person who planned the murder. He is the leader of a group that smuggles goods.

Shimul Bhuiyan, a professional thief who used to be the boss of a radical group, carried out the plan to kill.

As the murder was being looked into, it was found that Anwarul Azim had been involved with crime for a long time. In the middle of the 1980s, he was involved in smuggling at the border with Mahespur in his town, Jhenaidah.

It has been learned that Anwarul Azim was involved in a global scheme through a major gold thief who lived in Jhenaidah at the start of the 1990s.

Over time, he became one of the prominent people behind moving gold across the Jhenaidah border.

There were many smuggling charges and killings linked to smuggling before he became a member of parliament.

After the Awami League took power in 2009, he was cleared of several charges because of political reasons. He was also found not guilty in the other cases.

Anwarul wasn't charged with anything new after he became a member of parliament, but government agents and a Prothom Alo probe say he was the brains behind gold theft in the area. The issue was known to both local leaders and the government.

After he became a member of parliament, no one was brave enough to talk about it.

A top leader of the Jhenaidah Awami League told Prothom Alo that Anar (Anwarul Azim) was involved in the underworld for forty years but did not want to be named.

After getting into politics and becoming a member of parliament, he tried to hide the fact that he had been a criminal, but his dark world ended in darkness.

The Kolkata-based newspaper Ananda Patrika reported on June 8 that Anwarul Azim was involved in moving gold across the border. The newspaper obtained its information from agents.

Besides that, he was the leader of a group that smuggled money.

Akhtaruzzaman was also involved in stealing gold. He is suspected of killing Anwarul Azim.

Jhenaidah is one of the 32 areas that touch India. The Indian districts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia are on the other side of Mahespur in Jhenaidah.

To travel from Jhenaidah to Mahespur, one must pass through the upazilas of Kaliganj and Kotchandpur. The distance between Jhenaidah Sadar and Mahespur is 38 kilometers.

Mahespur upazila borders Jibonnagar upazila, which is adjacent to Chuadanga.

Police in Maheshpur, the BGB, and other sources all said the line with India is 57 kilometers long. Eleven kilometers of this are not covered in barbed wire.

The border region has a long history of being utilized for smuggling. This is how Kaliganj, Kotchandpur, and Jibonnagar connect with other locations. One approach for individuals to illicitly transport goods is via Kaliganj upazila.

Sources in the government said that this path was first used to smuggle large amounts of drugs and cattle in the 1980s.

At that time, Anwarul Azim was involved in secretly moving goods. At one point, he had a lot of power in trade that focused on borders. In 1989, he became a member of the BNP.

In 1993, he was chosen as a counselor in the town. Back in 1995, he joined the Awami League.

 Anwarul Azim was part of Abdul Mannan's team and worked for the Jhenaidah-4 district. Mannan used to be interested in BNP politics.

They joined the Awami League together in 1995. When the BNP took power in 2001, Anwarul ran away to India. Several charges were brought against him then, but he didn't have a role in the Awami League until 2004.

Law enforcement and Awami League members in the area say that Anwarul's power began to grow after the Awami League took power in 1996.

At that point, he was part of a group that stole gold. Paritosh Chakrabarti led the group from Jhenaidah Sadar. Anwarul is thought to be Paritosh's master of gold stealing.

Mumtarin Ferdous commented on Anwarul's involvement in the theft of gold. She shared that the rumors circulating about her father are unfounded. Her father was not involved in any illegal activities, and she believes the allegations against him were part of a conspiracy.

Accused in murder case

It was known that Poritash bought and sold gold in Jhenaidah town. He died in 2013. Before he died, he was known to have been close to Anwarul.

It was found that Anwarul Azim was charged in 21 cases. His name and Poritash's were on the charge sheet in two of those cases.

A man called Tariqul Saiful was killed at the Shyampur of Damurhuda police station in Chuadanga in May 2007 while the country was under a caretaker government. He was accused of moving gold illegally.

The case was looked into, and it was found that Anwarul Azim and Poritash were trying to kill someone. It was at that time that Poritash Chakrabarti admitted to killing the person in court.

People who know him say he named Anwarul Azim in the confession statement.

Border force BDR, which is now called Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), seized a truck in December of that year with 12 kg of gold on board near the Darshana border in Damurhuda police station.

As the case was being investigated, the names of Anwarul and Poritash were found. After that, Anwarul ran away again to India.  

Interpol sent a red alert on August 7, 2008, after finding proof that Anwarul Azim was involved in these two cases. After the Awami League took power in 2009, Anwarul returned home and took down the red warning.

In 2012, the home minister removed Anwarul's name from these two cases because of political concerns. Four friends, one of whom was Poritash Chakrabarti, also had their names removed.

In addition to the other cases against Anwarul, three under the Special Powers Act are concerned with smuggling.

In one of these three cases, he was found not guilty after the home minister made a suggestion based on political factors.

The police have turned in their final report, which clears him in two other cases.