Bangladesh MP detained in Kuwait

Kuwait’s Central Investigation Department detained Bangladeshi lawmaker Mohammad Shahid Islam in Kuwait on charges of human trafficking and money laundering.

‘Bangladesh ambassador to Kuwait informed that the Bangladeshi lawmaker was picked up in a case filed over his business matters in Kuwait,’ foreign minister AK Abdul Momen told New Age.

The foreign minister said that the independent lawmaker from Lakshmipur-2 constituency was picked up from his Kuwait home last night.

independent lawmaker of reserved seat for women Salina Islam, also the wife of Shahid Islam, told New Age that the investigators picked up her husband to ‘discuss’ complaints filed against him over business matters.

She claimed that there was no case against her husband in Kuwait.

On February 26, the Anti-Corruption Commission here initiated an inquiry against the independent lawmaker and NRB Commercial Bank Ltd director Shahid Islam on charge of his alleged involvement in accumulation of illegal wealth through money laundering.

The inquiry against the Kuwait-based businessman was initiated after a 174-page complaint was filed with the commission, said ACC director for public relations Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee.

The ACC launched the inquiry against the businessman 10 days after road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said that legal steps would be taken over the allegations of human trafficking against the independent lawmaker from Lakshmipur-2.

Obaidul said that he would request the ACC to investigate the matter as per the prime minister’s directives against corruption.

Arab Times in Kuwait reported on February 13 that a Bangladesh parliamentarian ‘is believed to be involved in visa trade in Kuwait’ and he was one of the members of the three-man gang sought by the security authorities in Kuwait.

Describing the Bangladesh MP as a ‘fugitive’, it said he has given five expensive cars as gifts to senior government officials of Kuwait to get several government contracts.

He allegedly transferred most of his wealth to the US and entered into a business partnership with a US citizen, according to the newspaper.

He began work in Kuwait as a supervisor of cleaning workers in one of the major companies and later became a partner in the company, the newspaper reported.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net