NY consulate ready to issue travel permit for Khoka: Shahriar

State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam
State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam

State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam on Sunday said Bangladesh consulate mission in New York will take necessary steps to issue ‘travel permit’, if former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation and BNP vice chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka and his wife apply for it.

“I have already informed our New York consulate about the decision (issuing travel permit),” he said in a post on his verified Facebook account.

As Khoka and his wife do not have passports, Shahriar said travel permit is the only internationally practiced system to return to the home country from another.

Mentioning that there are cases against Khoka and his wife, the state minister said there could have been arrest warrant against them though he is not sure of that.

“But, what I have come to know after talking with honourable home minister is that the travel permit will be issued based on humanitarian ground when
they arrive here,” he said.

The BNP leader is now undergoing treatment in a critical condition in New York.