Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that if MP Mohammad Shahid Islam Papul turns out to be a Kuwaiti citizen, his parliamentary seat will be declared vacant.
"We’re in talks with Kuwait [government] on whether he [Mohammad Shahid Islam] is a citizen of Kuwait or not. We will look into if he is a citizen of Kuwait or not, then we will have to vacate his seat because the law will take its own course.
“We’ve launched an investigation against him in our country, too," she said on Wednesday, reports UNB.
The prime minister made the statement while taking part in an unscheduled debate initiated by BNP MP Harunur Rashid in the parliament.
She was answering a question raised by the BNP MP concerning the citizenship of Mohammad Shahid Islam Papul, who was arrested in Kuwait on charges of human trafficking and money laundering.
Harunur Rashid cited various newspaper reports where Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen had said that the Kuwaiti authorities detained Bangladeshi MP to face money laundering and human trafficking charges as a “local resident” of the Middle Eastern country.
The premier mentioned that MP Papul, in the last general election, sought nomination from Awami League, but she did not give him a nomination for the Laxmipur 2 constituency.
“That seat was allotted for Jatiya Party [JaPa]. Later, he [Shahid Islam] joined the election as an independent candidate. Jatiya Party gave the nomination to Noman, but he did not participate in the election.”
The premier also said Shahid Islam somehow managed to make his wife a member of the parliament from a seat reserved for women.
"But she was not our nominated or elected by us," she added.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Kuwait arrested Papul on June 6 in connection with cases related to human trafficking, residency visa trading, and money laundering.
Then, the public prosecutor of Kuwait had approached the central bank to freeze the bank accounts of Mohammad Shahid Islam.
The financial balance of the company amounts to about 5 million Kuwaiti dinars (1 dinar = $3.25 approx), including 3 million dinars as the company’s capital.
On June 25, Papul was sent to the central prison of the country.
The attorney general of Kuwait decided to imprison the Bangladeshi MP for 21-days in the central prison.
Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sought income tax documents of Mohammad Shahid Islam, MP, his family, and his sister-in-law from the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
Deputy director of ACC Mohammad Salauddin sought the documents from NBR in connection with the MP’s alleged involvement in money laundering and accumulating illegal wealth.
Besides, it also served a notice to the Election Commission to get the electoral affidavit of MP Shahid and his wife Selina Islam.
The ACC earlier requested the Special Branch of Police seeking restriction on MP Shahid and his family’s foreign travel.
Earlier, on June 9, the ACC served notices to MP Shahid Islam, and his family members, seeking their wealth statements.
ACC Assistant Director M Salahuddin served the notices to Shahid, his wife lawmaker Selina Islam, their daughter Kazi Wafa Islam and Selina’s sister Jemin Akter.
They were asked to submit their copies of passports, NIDs, TINs, and income tax returns within 15 days.
