The Bangladesh government has written to Kuwait seeking to know why Mohammad Shahid Islam, popularly known as Kazi Papul, has been arrested.

"We have written to the Kuwaiti foreign ministry to learn details of why MP Shahid Islam has been arrested," Bangladesh's Ambassador to Kuwait, SM Abul Kalam, told The Daily Star today.

A source in Kuwait said the country's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who arrested the independent MP of Laxmipur-2 on Saturday night, has handed him over to the general prosecution which then sent the MP to jail.

Bangladesh Ambassador Abul Kalam, however, said he had no information about it.

Asked if the government will take any step for his bail and provide legal support, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said any Bangladeshi, if arrested in foreign land, will get consular services from Bangladesh government.

"It is their right to get the consular service," he said.

Arab Times from Kuwait reported yesterday that Kazi Papul was arrested on charges including human trafficking (trade of residencies and visas) and money laundering.

Kuwait's prosecution heard testimonies of five Bangladeshi expatriates who confirmed that they had paid amounts of up to 3000 dinars in exchange for coming to Kuwait, and that they were also paying annually in exchange for renewing their residency, it reported.

In response to a complaint filed on February 16, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) opened an enquiry into an allegation that Shahid Islam amassed Tk 1,400 crore by trafficking people to Kuwait and siphoned off the money to different countries.

Earlier in February, Kuwaiti media reported that three Bangladeshis were operating a human trafficking racket in the Middle Eastern country. On February 12, a report of the Arab Times said one of the three was a "member of parliament in Bangladesh".

According to the report, the trio "occupied sensitive positions" in three major companies that brought more than 20,000 Bangladeshi workers to Kuwait in exchange for an amount believed to be more than Tk 1,391.6 crore.

Asked, Shahid at that time told The Daily Star that he had been in the construction business for nearly 30 years, and that about 26,000 people worked in his Marafie Kuwaitia General Contracting Company. Of them, about 20,000 were from Bangladesh and the rest from different other countries, including India and Nepal.

Denying his involvement with any criminal activity, he had said: "I don't have any businesses in Bangladesh. I have never made any illegal transaction and have always used proper banking channels."