A video involving Satkhira-4 (Shyamnagar) lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam has been circulating on social media since last night, drawing widespread attention.

The video appears to show the lawmaker with a woman in a room. In a statement issued today, he identified the woman as his second wife, Mariam Begum, and said the allegations surrounding the video were false.

When contacted after the video began circulating, Nazrul Islam did not answer calls from this correspondent.

In the statement, the lawmaker claimed that on July 13, he visited a business establishment in Moghbazar in Dhaka owned by Mariam’s father, Md Masum Billah, accompanied by his first wife, Maksuda Begum, and Mariam.

He alleged that during the visit, his driver and Mariam’s maternal uncle, Obaidullah, entered the room with several unidentified people. They allegedly held them hostage, took Tk 1 lakh and later demanded several lakh more. When he refused to pay, they threatened him, he claimed.

Gazi Nazrul Islam further alleged that Obaidullah recorded private and intimate moments of him and his wife and later circulated the footage on Facebook and other social media platforms. He claimed the video was being falsely portrayed as evidence of an extramarital relationship for political purposes.

The lawmaker said he married Mariam on June 17 with the consent of his first wife and maintained that the allegations surrounding the video were false.

In his statement, he called on the authorities to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation and take legal action against those responsible for recording and circulating the footage.

The correspondent tried to contact Obaidullah for his comment, but he did not answer repeated phone calls.

District Jamaat Secretary Azizur Rahman also claimed that Nazrul Islam had married for a second time with the consent of his first wife and that the video was leaked from CCTV footage recorded at a house in Dhaka.

However, The Daily Star could not independently verify this claim.