India will see to the return of Akhtaruzzaman Shaheen, suspected as the mastermind of the murder of Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar, from the US, says Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
He said, “The murder case was filed in India. The United States has a prisoner exchange agreement with India. So the Indian government will look into it as it happened in their country. The main case will be where the murder took place. If they involve us in the case, we will support them.”
The home minister’s statement came in response to questions from reporters after he presented the prizes for a speech competition titled ‘Our Bangabandhu’ organised by the Bangladesh Chhatra League for madrasa students at the TSC auditorium at Dhaka University on Saturday.
Aktaruzzaman Shaheen is believed to have absconded to the United States. Bangladesh does not have an extradition treaty with the US government to bring back the accused, but India does. The West Bengal Crime Investigative Department (CID) is planning to bring Shaheen back to India from the US.
Meanwhile, a team from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch left for Nepal on Saturday morning as part of their investigation into Anar’s murder.
Around 10am, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Chief Additional Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid told the media at the gate to Terminal-2 gate at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport: “We have heard Siam, an accomplice to Shaheen, the mastermind behind the assassination of MP Anwarul Azim Anna, has been arrested in Nepal. Apart from this, there is the possibility that others involved in the murder fled to Nepal after the incident. After taking the matter into consideration, we are headed there.”
When asked about this, the home minister said one of the suspects in the murder had fled to Nepal.
Attempts are being made to arrest all the suspects, wherever they are, he said.
Law enforcers cannot sit by when an MP has been killed in such a gruesome way, Khan said. Efforts are continuing and all those who have committed the murder or assisted them will be brought to justice. Efforts are also underway to make arrangements for those who fled to Nepal to be brought back.
