Seven people, including five government employees, have been arrested over the leak of question papers for the recruitment examination for assistant youth development officer posts under the Department of Youth Development, the Special Response Battalion (SRB-3) has said.
The syndicate allegedly charged candidates Tk8–10 lakh each, according to preliminary findings.
The arrestees are Md Rubel Islam, 33, a data entry operator at the Department of Environment; Md Mofizul Islam, 23, a job seeker; Md Hasinur Rahman Sujon, 32; SM Imdadul Islam, 35, a computer operator at the National Board of Revenue (NBR); Asadul Islam, 33, an office assistant at the Ministry of Defence; Nur Mohammad, 30, an office assistant at the NBR; and Jahangir, 38, a computer operator at the NBR.
Lieutenant Colonel Faizul Arefin, commanding officer of SRB-3, disclosed the information at a press conference at the battalion's media centre in Kawran Bazar, Dhaka, on Friday.
He said the team seized a set of question papers, 116 Tk100 stamp papers, four Tk50 stamp papers, 19 pages of admit cards for various examinations, 15 certificates of different categories, 48 pages of bank cheques from various banks, one bank cheque, eight mobile phones, six national identity cards and Tk4,000 in cash.
Investigators have yet to identify the original source of the leaked question paper. Although the arrestees claimed to have obtained it through Facebook, they failed to provide satisfactory evidence to support their claims, the SRB-3 chief said.
The recruitment screening test for 242 assistant youth development officer posts was scheduled for October 10. A total of 319,000 candidates applied for the examination.
The test was due to begin at 11am, but the authorities postponed it after confirming the leak at 10:03am that day.
SRB launched a covert investigation following the incident and arrested the seven suspects in separate drives across Dhaka and nearby areas between October 14 and 16. The Department of Youth Development filed a case with Motijheel police station on October 11.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Faizul, Rubel, Mofizul and Sujon were arrested in Motijheel on October 14. Based on information obtained from them, Imdadul was arrested in Uttarkhan, while Asadul was detained in Mirpur-10 with assistance from SRB-4.
After analysing the suspects' mobile phone conversations and chats, SRB-4 arrested Nur Mohammad in Savar on October 15. Information and evidence obtained from him subsequently led to Jahangir's arrest in Mohammadpur on October 16.
How the question paper was circulated
An analysis of the suspects' mobile phone chats showed that Nur Mohammad first received an unclear image of the question paper from an unidentified source at 4:43am on October 10. At 6:15am, Jahangir sent him a clearer image of the paper.
Nur Mohammad then prepared the answers and sent them to Jahangir and Imdadul. The question paper and answers were subsequently distributed among other syndicate members and candidates associated with the group.
Asadul, Rubel, Mofizul and Sujon were also involved in the operation, the SRB-3 chief said.
The syndicate allegedly used fake identities on WhatsApp to carry out its activities.
Asked who had initially supplied the question paper to Nur Mohammad, Lieutenant Colonel Faizul said identifying the source was a key part of the investigation. Nur Mohammad, however, failed to provide a satisfactory answer.
Both Nur Mohammad and Jahangir claimed they had obtained the paper through Facebook, but investigators have yet to verify their claims. The Facebook groups and accounts they mentioned are being examined, he said.
“We will try to identify the original source from which the question paper was leaked,” Faizul added.
He said the investigation was ongoing to trace the source of the leak and identify others involved.
Asked whether any official or employee of the Department of Youth Development was involved, the SRB-3 commander said investigators had so far found no direct evidence linking anyone from the department to the incident. However, employees of other government offices had been found to be involved, and further details could emerge as the investigation progressed.
He also said Mofizul joined the syndicate in hopes of making more money after being defrauded by one of its members. The investigation had also uncovered financial transactions linked to admission-related business, he added.
