Bengal cops say gold smuggling angle could be reason for Bangladesh MP's murder

Kolkata: In a new twist to the ongoing probe into the gruesome murder of Bangladeshi MP Anwarul Azim Anar, the West Bengal CID officials on Saturday claimed that an angle of gold smuggling could be a possible reason behind the killing.

The investigators claimed that an alleged rift over gold smuggling between Anar and his friend, who is a US citizen and his business partner, could be the cause of the crime.

A CID officer also said that it would not be an easy task to find Anar's body, since it was chopped into around 80 pieces and thrown into several places almost 12 days ago, the official said.

'The murder could be the result of a rift between the politician and his US friend and partner... We are probing into this aspect as well,' the officer of the state CID said.

The probe agency's officers continued their search during the day for the body parts of the Bangladeshi lawmaker in a canal at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, where the arrested butcher had led them, he said.

'It's almost 12 days after the murder, and the body parts wrapped in plastic bags were dumped in a canal. The flesh could have been eaten up by fish and other animals. We have deployed divers to spot them,' the CID officer told PTI.

The CID officer said that the arrested butcher had admitted to chopping the MP's body into over 80 pieces before they were disposed of in different locations in Bhangar.

The CID officers were also taking the help of a cab driver who had taken the accused persons to different locations before dropping them near Bangaon, he said.

The search for the missing MP, who reportedly arrived in Kolkata on May 12 to undergo medical treatment, began after Gopal Biswas, a resident of Baranagar in north Kolkata and an acquaintance of the Bangladeshi politician, filed a complaint with the local police on May 18. Anar had stayed at Biswas's house upon arrival.

In his complaint, Biswas stated that Anar left his Baranagar residence for a doctor's appointment in the afternoon of May 13, while stating that he would be back home for dinner.

Biswas claimed that the Bangladesh MP went incommunicado on May 17, which prompted him to file a missing complaint a day later.