Shahid Islam

A Bangladeshi lawmaker has been arrested in Kuwait over alleged involvement in human trafficking and money laundering.

Mohammad Shahid Islam, independent lawmaker from Luxmipur-2, was held by Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department on Saturday night.

"Our ambassador to Kuwait informed us that the MP was arrested by the Kuwait CID over allegations of money laundering and human trafficking," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told The Daily Star yesterday evening.

"It's a matter of regret and shame for us that a lawmaker has been arrested on foreign soil," he said.

The arrest comes more than a week after the killing of 26 Bangladeshis by human traffickers in Mizdah of Libya. Eleven others were also injured. The victims were on their way to Tripoli from Benghazi while heading to Europe through the Mediterranean.

Momen said Shahid, also known as Kazi Papul, has a big business firm in Kuwait. Shahid is its managing director and a Kuwaiti national its chairperson.

"His Kuwaiti partner is trying to help him with bail," Momen mentioned.

Asked what action the government would take against the MP, the minister said, "We are investigating. We will take appropriate actions after probe."

Contacted earlier in the day, Bangladesh Ambassador to Kuwait SM Abul Kalam said he was trying to learn why the MP was detained. "No human trafficking takes place from Bangladesh to Kuwait. What happens is visa trading," he said.

Meanwhile, Shahid's wife Salina Islam in a statement claimed that the information published by some news portal about her husband's arrest in Kuwait was wrong.

"My husband has not been arrested in any case. As per the rules of the country, the government of Kuwait called him to meet at its respective department or CID for discussion on his business," said Salina, also an MP from the reserve seat for women.

She urged all to refrain from "spreading misinformation".

In the latest development, a source in Kuwait said Shahid was denied bail and sent to jail.

ACC PROBE

In response to a complaint filed on February 16, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission 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.

Asked, Shahid at that time said he had been in construction business for 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.

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

Earlier, the 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, an English language daily, 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.

Migration experts say studies found Bangladeshi migrants pay the highest amount of money to go abroad.

Even, cases filed for human trafficking rarely see conviction. According to the Police Headquarters in Bangladesh, 5,088 cases were filed under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act-2012 between 2012 and 2019, but only 111 people were convicted.