C T Online Desk: Shahidur Rahman Ripon, an additional deputy commissioner with the Wari Zone of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) and an investigator in the murder case of Jhenaidah-4 lawmaker Md Anwarul Azim Anar, has been reassigned to Barisal.
A notification issued by the police headquarters on Sunday said he had been transferred to Barisal to assume the position of additional superintendent of police.
According to sources, Shahidur is currently in Nepal with the DB team investigating the murder of MP Anar. He was also part of the DB team that travelled to India for the investigation.
Sources at the police headquarters said it was a routine transfer.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a DB official said the transfer list had been made a long time ago and that perhaps the police chief signed the list on Sunday.
He might not have observed the fact that Shahidur was involved in investigating a crucial case like the MP murder, the officer added.
Sources familiar with the matter said that since Anar’s disappearance in Kolkata, Shahidur had been closely monitoring the matter. Anar and Shahidur both hailed from the same district. Utilizing personal sources and communicating directly with Kolkata police, he promptly delved into unravelling the mystery behind the lawmaker’s murder.
Before this, Shahidur was involved in investigations concerning highly discussed incidents like the killing of Awami League leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and the death of Buet student Fardin Noor Parash.
The same notification also mentioned the transfer of 10 other additional superintendents of police and 12 assistant superintendents of police.
Anwarul Azim Anar, a lawmaker from the ruling Awami League, crossed the Darshana-Gede border into India for treatment on May 12. He stayed at his friend Gopal Biswas’s home in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
The following day, he left to see a doctor at around noon and was expected to return in the evening. However, a WhatsApp message from his phone to Biswas said that he had gone to Delhi instead and would call if necessary.
Since then, he could not be reached by phone. Eventually, the government confirmed his death on May 22, citing Indian police.
Subsequently, on 26 May, a three-member DB team, led by its chief Harunor Rashid, travelled to Kolkata for further investigation.
On 1 June, a four-member DB team went to Nepal after Kathmandu police detained another suspect.
