District Awami League leader Saidul Karim Mintu, who was arrested in connection with the murder of Jhenaidah-4 Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Anwarul Azim Anna, did not give a confessional statement in court.
He claimed to be innocent on remand. However, despite claiming to be innocent, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DB) is finding his involvement in MP Anna’s murder.
They have in their hands the confessional statement of the two accused arrested in Anna’s murder and the technical information which implicates Mintu in the murder planning and payment. However, he was sent to jail five days before his remand was due to end, and there was a mixed reaction.
Meanwhile, the CID of India has received the forensic report of MP Anar’s body. After that they called Anar’s daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen to India to give DNA sample.
In this regard, MP Anar’s personal assistant Abdur Rauf told Jugantar that on Thursday, an officer of the Indian CID called Doreen and told her to go to India within a week to give a DNA sample. We have reported the matter to DB Police. We will go to India soon with a team from DB.
It is to be noted that Mintu, general secretary of Jhenaidah district Awami League and former mayor of Jhenaidah municipality, was arrested from Dhanmondi in the capital by the DB of DMP on suspicion of being involved in the murder of MP Anna.
He was remanded for eight days on June 13. Five days before the end of the remand, he was sent to prison by the court. On remand Mintu was asked, according to the information of Awami League leader Babu and extremist leader Shimul, he is involved in this murder. How to deny this? Besides, what is Shimul or Shaheen’s relationship with him?
Evidence of conversation with them before the murder was also presented before Mintu. But he denied everything without giving any answer to these questions.
DB says that Mintu’s conversation with Shaheen, the mastermind of the murder, has come up in the statements of the two arrested accused. If the mobile phone is sent to forensics, it will be evidence, the investigation officials think. Because the killers used WhatsApp to communicate. Mintu has also deleted all the information from the phone’s WhatsApp. According to DB sources, the assistance of the American Embassy in Bangladesh may be sought in recovering those data.
Meanwhile, the other four accused arrested in Anna’s murder confessed their responsibility and gave a statement under section 164 in the court. But in Mintu’s case, there has been mixed reaction to the fact that he was sent to prison before the end of his remand without a statement. MP Anar’s daughter Doreen has been claiming since the beginning that a cabal is trying to save the real killers. Anar’s close friends believe that Mintu was sent to prison before the end of his remand, and the investigation process is being disrupted due to political pressure. As part of that, Mintu has been sent to jail before his remand ends. As a result, Mintu and those involved in the murder will remain hidden.
However, according to the investigation officers of the DB, Mintu spoke about the matters for which Mintu was remanded. As a result, he no longer needed remand. Those statements are being verified. If necessary, he will be remanded.
Besides, they claim, Section 167 of CRPC and PRB Rule-324 state that if the purpose of remand of the investigating officer is successful, it is better to send the accused to the court instead of keeping him in police custody unnecessarily despite the term being in hand.
On condition of anonymity, a senior officer of the DB Police told Jugantar that there is no admission or denial about Mintu’s involvement in the murder. Evidence has revealed his involvement in the assassination plot. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t admit it anymore. He and others arrested will be remanded.
Earlier, Mintu’s close associate Jhenaidah District Awami League Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Kazi Kamal Ahmed Babu alias Gas Babu was arrested by DB on the night of June 6. He was remanded for seven days on June 9. On remand, Babu agreed to confess responsibility for the murder. The court then recorded Babu’s confessional statement. In Babu’s statement, Mintu’s name comes up behind Anna’s murder.
Shimul Bhuiyan alias Syed Amanullah, Faisal Ali Saji alias Tanveer Bhuiyan and Celesti Rahman were arrested in this case on May 23. All three of them admitted responsibility for the incident and gave a statement in court. They are currently in jail. But the main mystery of Anna’s murder still surrounds Shaheen. Investigators believe that the government should take strong initiatives to bring him back to the country. Because all the investigation matters are stopped in Shaheen. In addition, the close person of Siam Shaheen was arrested by the police in India. DB will soon go to India to interrogate Siam.
It may be noted that MP Annar went to India on May 12. The next day on May 13, he was murdered in a flat in Sanjiba Garden, Newtown area of Kolkata. The incident came to light on May 22. On that day, Anar’s daughter Doreen filed a case of kidnapping against the unknown accused at Sherbangla Nagar police station in the capital. Besides, there is a murder case in India. In the investigation of the law and order forces of the two countries, 12 people have been named as involved in the murder so far. Seven of them have been arrested.
They are Shimul Bhuiyan, Tanveer, Celesti, Babu and Mintu arrested in Bangladesh. Besides, Siam and Kasai Zahid have been arrested in India. Three others have been named, who are not directly involved in the murder. However, DB doubts that they can be used with financial transactions. The mastermind of the murder, Aktaruzzaman Shaheen, fled to the United States. Besides, Mustafiz and Faisal are absconding.
Human chain of joint cultural alliance to demand Mintu’s release: A human chain program was held on Thursday afternoon as part of the ongoing movement to demand the release of Saidul Karim Mintu. The program was held at the post office junction of the city on the invitation of the Jhenaidah branch of Samilit Samskantik Jot. People from different classes and professions including various cultural organizations and political leaders participated in it.
Khulna Group Federation member Nazim Uddin Julius, General Secretary of Bihang Cultural Practice Center Shahinur Alam Liton, former principal Shusendu Kumar Bhowmik, vice-principal Abdus Salam and others spoke under the chairmanship of district alliance president Shanto Joardar.
The speakers said that Mintu has been framed in this case in a conspiratorial manner. They demanded that the cultured Mintu be returned to Jhenaidah as soon as possible.