Miscreants bagged Tk60cr by leaking question papers: Police
Police have found that at least one member of the central bank's Bankers' Selection Committee was involved in the recent incident of bank recruitment question paper leak
A gang of miscreants have collected around Tk60 crore by leaking four public service recruitment examinations' question papers, said Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid.
The five state-owned bank's recruitment examination held on Saturday was one of those four exams, but police did not disclose which other public service examinations' questions were leaked earlier.
An official of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch said at least one member of the central bank's Bankers' Selection Committee was involved in the recent incident of bank recruitment question paper leak.
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However, Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid told this correspondent that they are yet to disclose any information about the Banker Selection Committee member's alleged involvement in the recent question paper scam.
"We have met the central bank's senior officials on Wednesday and the investigation is still going on. We have shared some information with them and they will let us know the further development," he added.
The Detective Branch, however, found out that the recruitment examination question paper was leaked by a syndicate of bank officials.
The question papers were prepared and printed in Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology and got leaked from there with the help of an official of the university, said DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) AKM Hafiz Akter in a briefing on Wednesday.
They have arrested five members of the syndicate involved in question paper leak in separate raids between Saturday to Tuesday, said the DMP additional deputy commissioner.
The arrested are Rupali Bank senior officer Jane Alam, Janata Bank officer Shamsul Haque, Pubali Bank senior officer Mustafizur Rahman Milon, Ahsanullah University technician Moktaruzzaman and Raisul Islam Sawpan.
The examination took place for recruiting 1,511 officers. Around two lakh candidates participated in the exam.
Soon after the examination, allegation of question paper leak started to surface, but the Bangladesh Bank, responsible for the organising the examination dismissed the allegation.
At that time, Bankers' Selection Committee Member and Bangladesh Bank executive officer Humayun Kabir claimed that no question paper was leaked.
The Detective Branch officials said they received a tip-off that question papers might get leaked.
Hafiz said they sent their sources to Badda where they syndicate members were supplying questions and answers of the examination to some candidates.
The syndicate members provided 85 multiple choice questions and answers for them to the candidates hours before the examination on Saturday morning.
"They provided 85 MCQ questions that matched with the questions provided in the exam hall," said DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner AKM Hafiz Akter.
When the Detective Branch was confirmed about recruitment question paper leak, they detained Raisul from Badda. Later, four others were arrested in different raids, said Hafiz.
The Detective Branch official said the arrested persons admitted that they set up eight booths in different parts of Dhaka to supply questions and answers to the candidates who paid them money in advance.
The investigators found a list of 200 candidates who paid advance money for the question papers.
Police were suspecting that around 2,000 more candidates might have received the leaked question papers through Whatsapp messages.
"The syndicate was demanding Tk5-15 lakh for the question paper. They had a contract that 20% of the money would be paid before MCQ examination, 20% more before written examination and rest would be paid after the candidates join the office," Hafiz said.
Hafiz said the central bank authorities decided to hire Ahsanullah University to prepare question paper to ensure that it does not get leaked, but Moktaruzzaman with the help of other staff leaked the question paper.
Detective Branch Joint Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid also said Ahsanullah University cannot avoid their responsibility about the leak.
Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and member of Officer (cash) Recruitment Examination Committee Humayun Kabir said they had no information about question paper leak, and they came to know about it only after the Detective Branch told them.
'We have asked an explanation from Ahsanullah University authorities about the leaks. Decision about the already held examination would be taken after receiving the explanation,' Humayun said.
Asked about internal investigation, he said that they do not have the capacity to investigate the incident of leak and it is up to the police to run the investigation.
Ahsanullah University Vice-Chancellor professor Muhammad FazliIlahi said they have suspended three staff including Moktaruzzaman over the incident.
'They were not part of any examination committee. We are yet to have any clear picture how they managed to leak the question papers. We will initiate an investigation over the incident,' said FazliIlahi.
Police said case was filed with Badda police station under the digital security act and investigation might reveal about more members of the syndicate.
The Bangladesh Bank has sought explanation from the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology regarding the question paper leak, said an executive director of the central bank.
