Trafficking to Kuwait: Investigators looking for MP Shahid’s brother
They used to contact people from across the country through brokers and charge each of them Tk 5 lakh to Tk 7 lakh for sending them to Kuwait.
They sent the fortune seekers to the Gulf country through the travel agency of Kazi Mohammad Badrul Alam alias Liton Chowdhury, younger brother of Lakshmipur-2 lawmaker Kazi Md Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul.
The collected money, gathered through sending people to Kuwait, was later deposited into different bank accounts of the two siblings.
The Criminal Investigation Department, now probing human trafficking charges against the lawmaker, has claimed to have gleaned the information from a staff of Job Bank International, a recruiting agency owned by Kazi Badrul.
Md Golam Mostafa, accountant of the recruiting agency, was arrested on August 20 in a case filed by several trafficking victims with Motijheel Police Station on July 7.
Mostafa on August 24 gave confessional statement to Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Masud Ur Rahman under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, CID Deputy Inspector General Imtiaz Ahmed said, "We have found important information and got names of some persons involved in trafficking people into Kuwait. We are now analysing the information and verifying those people's involvement."
Imtiaz, however, refused to disclose the identities of the suspects.
Requesting anonymity, a top CID official said they were looking for Kazi Badrul's whereabouts.
"As Kazi Badrul's name has already surfaced in a confessional statement, we will bring trafficking charges against him," he added.
According to court sources, Mostafa in the confessional statement said he used to send people to Kuwait through Job Bank International as per directives of Kazi Badrul. These people were later received by Kazi Papul's agency Marafie Kuwaitia in Kuwait.
Mostafa said he had joined the recruiting agency as an accountant in 2012. He said brokers used to persuade people to give money to them to have a better job abroad with good salary. But their dream for a better future would be shattered as soon as they would not get those jobs.
Mostafa claimed that one Taiyeb used to frequent the recruiting agency to oversee the trafficking process, but he never met any fortune seekers.
The accountant further said he used to complete the ticketing and visa procedures of sending people to Kuwait through a recruiting agency named "Best Travel" in the capital's Fakirapool area. One Monir of the agency used to complete the other processes, according to court sources.
Besides depositing the collected money into the bank accounts of Kazi Papul and Kazi Badrul, Mostafa used to hand them cash amounts.
Mostafa said Kazi Badrul went into hiding after the Kuwaiti law enforcers and the government conducted drives at his brother's agency in Kuwait.
Mentioning that he was unaware of the human trafficking activities, Mostafa apologised for what he did for the recruiting agency, said court sources citing his confessional statement.
This newspaper could not reach Kazi Badrul for comments as his phone was found switched off.
Comments