Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader will ask the ACC to investigate the allegations of human trafficking against Laxmipur-2 MP Quazi Shaheed Islam alias Papul.

"As per the prime minister's stance against corruption, I will ask the Anti-Corruption Commission to look into the matter," Quader told reporters at his ministry yesterday. 

"Legal measures will be taken if there is any complaint of corruption [against Shaheed Islam]," he added. 

However, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the allegation that a Bangladeshi MP is involved in human trafficking, as reported in the Kuwaiti media, is fake news. 

"We have heard it's fake news. We don't have any information," he told journalists at his ministry yesterday.

"Our mission has not provided any information about him. We don't know about it. One newspaper published it, but then it said its factuality was not verified," Momen said. 

According to media reports, Quazi Shaheed Islam alias Papul is one of the three Bangladeshis who have been involved in human trafficking in Kuwait.

He left Kuwait just before a crackdown on human traffickers began there, Al-Qabas newspaper of Kuwait reported, quoting the country's home ministry.

The ring of the three amassed about Tk 1,400 crore through trafficking 20,000 Bangladeshis to that country, the CID in Kuwait claimed.

Kuwait's Arabic daily Al-Qabas and Arab Times last Wednesday published a report against the Bangladeshi human traffickers.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Anisuzzaman, head of chancery at the Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait, said following the media reports naming a Bangladesh MP, the embassy sought details from the Kuwaiti CID.

"We are yet to get any response," he told The Daily Star.

Quazi Shaheed Islam is managing director & CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group of Companies, one of the largest companies in Kuwait.

Major work of the company is providing cleaning services and construction.

Kuwait is home to some three lakh Bangladeshi workers. 

Recruitment cost for workers is around Tk 6 lakh, but the minimum monthly salary is 75 Kuwaiti Dinner (Tk 20,000). 

Including overtime, the salary stands at around Tk 27,000, which means it takes around two years to earn the money a Bangladeshi migrant spends as recruitment cost in Kuwait.