Md. Anwarul Azim Anar (3 January 1968 – 13 May 2024) was a Bangladeshi

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

politician and a three-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Jhenaidah-4 constituency from 2014 until his death in 2024.

Career

Anar allegedly got involved in the drug trade around 1986 when the Jatiya Party was in power. He used to smuggle goods through the Baghda border in India to the Baghavanga border in Bangladesh. In 1991, Anar allegedly got involved in gold smuggling along with Paritosh Tagore, another smuggler from Jhenaidah. In 1996, he was involved in arms smuggling. In 2007,

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

had issued a Red Notice against Anar for his connection with multiple criminal cases including arms and explosives. Anar was also accused in a murder case. A special court in Chuadanga issued a public notice in 2009 to arrest Anar. In 2012, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs, he was acquitted from the case due to political considerations. Anar was first elected to the parliament on 5 January 2014 representing the Jhenaidah-4 constituency as an Awami League candidate. At the time of the election he had 21 cases against him. He received 103,478 votes while his nearest competitor, Mohammad Mostafa Alamgir of the Bangladesh Workers Party, received 5,398. He was nominated instead of his predecessor, Abdul Mannan, who was also a same party member. He served as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Shipping. Anar was re-elected to the parliament in

2018 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was a landslide victory for the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina. According to political scientist Ali Riaz, ...

retaining the same position. He received 226,396 while his nearest competitor, Md Saiful Islam Firoz of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, got 9,506 votes. He was elected again in

2024 Bangladeshi general election General elections are scheduled to be held in Bangladesh in January 2024. Background The current Sangsad ( 11th) is scheduled to expire on 29 January 2024, as the first session of this parliament sat on 30 January 2019 and the tenure of a parli ...

. He was the president of the Kaliganj Upazila unit of Awami League.

Personal life

Anar had a daughter, Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen.

Disappearance and death

Anar went missing on 13 May 2024 after he had left the house of his Indian friend, Gopal Biswas, in

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and f ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, India. The government of Bangladesh sought the support of India in finding Anar. He had entered India on 12 May through Darshana-Gede border. On 22 May, Bangladesh Minister of Home Affairs, Asaduzzaman Khan, confirmed Anar's death, caused by murder in an apartment, where he went to meet a woman named Celesty Rahman in

New Town, Kolkata New Town is a planned satellite city of Kolkata, India. It comes under North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and covered by New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA). HIDCO planned developi ...

. According to the investigations, he had been murdered on 13 May. Later on 28 May, investigators found 4 kg of human flesh in the septic tank of the New Town housing complex suspected to be of Anar's which was then sent for a forsenic test.

References

1968 births 2024 deaths People from Jhenaidah District Politicians from Khulna Division Awami League politicians 10th Jatiya Sangsad members 11th Jatiya Sangsad members 12th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladeshi murder victims People murdered in West Bengal {{AwamiLeague-politician-stub