Simul Bhuiyan, alias Amanullah, a prime suspect in the murder of Bangladesh MP Mohammad Anwarul Azim Anar, ran a gang of hired killers named “khatam bahini”, officers in the Bengal CID have learned.
Amanullah and at least two other members of the gang were part of the group that allegedly killed Anar on May 13 in a Rajarhat apartment.
CID sources said senior officers at Bhabani Bhavan have questioned Amanullah, who is in the custody of Bangladesh police, through a video call.
During the interrogation and exchange of information, the state police have learned that Amanullah, who was a leader of the now defunct extremist group Purba Banglar Communist Party, has numerous criminal cases against him and runs a squad that can be hired for murder.
Sources said Amanullah’s statements prompted Bangladesh police to request the state CID to search the sewage pipe of the Rajarhat apartment. Around 4kg of flesh and hair were recovered from the pipe on Tuesday night.
A sample of the recovered mass was sent for forensic tests on Wednesday.
Bhuniya, CID sources said, changed his name to Amanullah and used a “genuine-looking” passport in his new name to enter India. CID sources said it was suspected that he forged his passport for the murder “assignment”.
“Faisal and Mustafizur, who were in the group that killed the MP, were members of Amanullah’s ‘khatam bahini’,” a CID source said. Amanullah is in the custody of Bangladesh police. Faisal and Mustafizur are at large.
Apart from hiring Amanullah for the assassination, Akhtaruzzaman Shahin — the US-based Bangladeshi businessman who allegedly masterminded the murder — had engaged Siam and Jihad Hawaladar for the same task.
“Shahin had contacted Siam, who brought Jihad, a butcher, from Mumbai to Calcutta. Siam was the point of contact between Shahin and Jihad,” the source said.
Jihad, who allegedly cut the MP’s body into small pieces in the Rajarhat apartment, is in the CID’s custody. Siam, who is suspected to have fled to Nepal, is still at large.
A CID team is likely to go to Nepal in his pursuit.
Investigators said they had found Siam using two SIM cards, one of which was bought in Calcutta and the other in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
Siam is suspected to have crossed the India-Nepal border through Bihar, an investigator said.