The Anwarul Azim Murder: Will the Truth Be Revealed?

Sohrab Hassan is joint editor at Prothom Alo and a poet. He can be contacted at [email protected]

The murder of Anwarul Azim, a politician from Cumilla, has brought to light a web of political intrigue and money.

The latest installment in the investigation revealed that a part of the money that was to be paid for the murder was supposed to be taken from Saidul on 23 May and handed over.

Local Awami League men said Saidul was Anwarul’s political rival and aspired to be MP in the future.

So did he help in the murder in the interests of his own political future?

Akhteruzzaman, Anwarul’s cousin, put this opportunity to use. He said that Saidul was supposed to give the money to Kamal Ahmed, who was then supposed to hand it over to the killers.

According to Shimul, a certain Bangladeshi politician was supposed to make a payment of Tk 20 million. Of this, Tk 2 million was supposed to be paid when the killers came back from Kolkata. The remaining Tk 18 million was supposed to be paid on 26 May and 29 May.

Was the politician to whom Shimul referred Saidul, or anyone else?

If it is not Saidul, then one cannot dismiss that a third leader is involved in the Anwarul killing.

The home minister Asaduzzaman himself said that the Anwarul murder case was taking a new turn.

When asked what involvement Saidul or Kamal Ahmed had in the murder he said, “We have come near uncovering the truth. Once the dead body is indentified, we will be able to reveal a lot.”

But many investigations come near the truth and then halt. Will that happen in the case of Anwarul Azim’s murder too?