A Dhaka court has placed seven people arrested over an alleged government job exam question-leak syndicate on a two-day remand for interrogation. After a hearing today (25 October), Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Joshita Islam passed the order.
The accused are Md Mofizul Islam, 27, Md Rubel Islam, 33, Md Hasinur Rahman alias Sujon, 32, Asadul Islam, 31, SM Emdadul Rahman, 35, Md Jahangir Alam, 38, and Nur Mohammad, 30.
Public prosecutor Kawsar Ahmed confirmed the order. Earlier, case investigator Md Mohaiminul Islam, additional superintendent of police at the Criminal Investigation Department's Cyber Police Centre, sought seven days' remand for each accused.
The remand petition alleges that the accused supplied questions for various government recruitment examinations in exchange for large sums paid in cash and by cheque, promising jobseekers advance access to questions and helping them memorise answers.
Investigators also suspect the involvement of government and private-sector officials and employees, as well as students. Preliminary interrogation indicated the accused's direct involvement, the petition said.
Investigators sought remand to gather further evidence and identify and arrest other members of the alleged syndicate.
The case was filed with Motijheel Police Station on 11 October under Sections 4, 5 and 9(4) of the Public Examinations (Offences) Act, 1980, against unidentified individuals. Police subsequently showed the seven as arrested in the case.
A large number of cheque books, stamp papers, national identity cards and academic certificates were seized from them, case documents said.
The case concerns the alleged leak of questions for recruitment to 242 Grade-11 assistant upazila youth development officer posts under the Department of Youth Development's revenue budget.
The first-stage MCQ test was scheduled for 11am to noon on 10 October at 95 educational institutions across Dhaka, with 31,879 eligible candidates.
According to the complaint, the department's director general received a phone call about the leak around 10:06am – 54 minutes before the test – while at the department's office in Jiban Bima Bhaban, Dilkusha, under Motijheel Police Station.
Officials later found the questions published on a Facebook account. A comparison with the department's original paper found them identical, the complaint said.
The complaint cited possible negligence, misconduct or collusion with outsiders at some stage of question preparation, printing, storage, transportation or distribution.
Authorities suspended the examination to protect transparency, fairness and equal opportunity for candidates. The cancellation wasted public funds, manpower and other resources and undermined public confidence in government recruitment, the complaint added.
The case was filed by Md Atikur Rahman, deputy director (Administration-1) and member-secretary of the department's divisional recruitment committee.