MP Shahid ‘spills the beans’

Al-Rai reports that he named senior officials during interrogation in Kuwait
Mohammad Shahid Islam, MP for Laxmipur-2, also known as Kazi Papul. Photo: Collected
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Mohammad Shahid Islam, MP for Laxmipur-2, also known as Kazi Papul. Photo: Collected
Laxmipur lawmaker Mohammad Shahid Islam has caused an uproar in Kuwait by revealing that senior officials there were taking bribes from him.
The MP who goes by the name of Kazi Papul made the stark admission after nine days of interrogation by the Kuwaiti authorities, reports the influential Gulf country’s Al-Rai newspaper.
Papul pleaded innocent after being arrested by the Kuwait Criminal Investigation Department on June 6.
“He admitted to handing over one million Kuwaiti dinars [nearly 3 million USD] in cash to the director of a company in exchange for the illegal smuggling of people from Bangladesh into Kuwait. The company has contracts with the government,” a senior reporter for the newspaper told the Daily Star, citing official sources.
According to Al-Rai’s report, Papul also admitted to paying large sums of money to senior officials, including a security official. He also revealed to his interrogators that former and serving Kuwaiti lawmakers were involved in the racketeering.
Some Kuwaiti quarters in the government were involved in the residency trade which opened the entry of Bangladeshi workers into the Arab country in exchange for money, Al-Rai’s report released yesterday said.
He told Gulf State prosecutors on Sunday that he paid Kuwaiti government officials through deposits in certain Kuwaiti neighborhoods.
Papul has appointed a senior security official as his close aide.
The country’s lawmakers have demanded a thorough investigation to identify everyone involved and bring them to justice.
The Anti-Corruption Authority issued a statement announcing that it had opened an investigation to uncover the entire illegal link.
The prosecution decided to continue the detention of Papul, after listening to the testimony of 11 Bangladeshis who had bribed them to enter Kuwait via Papul.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh said in a tweet on Saturday that “Kuwait’s security is a red line, and maintaining its security is the ultimate goal. This is what we promised His Highness, the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince, and His Highness the Prime Minister and the noble people of Kuwait.”
In a statement released the same day, Al-Saleh said it was one of the biggest cases of human trafficking and residency for an Asian expatriate.
The fight against human trafficking and illegal residence is one of the main priorities of the Ministry of the Interior and the efforts made by the security men have made a lot of progress in terms of the prosecution of suspects or in terms of reform. legislation, he said.
The investigations revealed the existence of suspicious financial transactions carried out by a network of weak-willed officials in cooperation with companies that facilitated these transactions, the statement added.
Whether it is a government official or a prominent figure, if an involvement is proven, they will be confronted with the investigative authorities of the Ministry of the Interior and will be referred to the prosecution.
Papul and a Kuwaiti citizen are co-owners of a large recruitment company named Marafie Kuwaitia.
He is accused of having charged each foreign worker, mostly Bangladeshi, up to 3,000 dinars in exchange for leaving for Kuwait.
The workers also paid huge sums to the company in exchange for renewing their residency every year.
In response to a complaint filed on February 16, the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has opened an investigation into an allegation that Shahid Islam amassed Tk 1,400 crore by trafficking people to Kuwait and laundering the money to different countries.
Also in February, Kuwaiti media reported that three Bangladeshis were operating a human trafficking racket in the Middle Eastern country. On February 12, an article in the Arab Times said that one of the three was a “member of parliament from Bangladesh”.
According to the report, the trio “held sensitive positions” in three major companies that brought more than 20,000 Bangladeshi workers to Kuwait in exchange for an estimated amount of more than Tk 1,391.6 crore.