Question Paper Leak: Suspended BB official accused
A suspended joint director of Bangladesh Bank has been accused in a case of leaking the question paper of a recruitment tests of five state-run banks.
Almas Ali and Abdullah Al Mabud, both joint directors of the central bank, were suspended from their post on June 13 after it was detected that during a recruitment test for the post of CCTV operator in October 2020 the duo helped an impersonator sit for the exam instead of the actual job seeker. The news of their suspension came to light after Almas was accused of leaking the questions of a recruitment test held on November 6.
"The CCTV operator recruitment got cancelled. Officials are still investigating the matter," Serajul Islam, spokesperson for the central bank, told The Daily Star yesterday.
During verification of the candidates, officials found a discrepancy in the handwriting of an examinee named Abu Bakar Siddique. When questioned by the central bank officials, Bakar admitted that he paid Almas Tk 2 lakh so that a man named Netyananda Pal could sit for the test impersonating him.
Almas told investigators that Mabud lobbied for Abu Bakar and that the money was given to Netyananda.
The Bangladesh Bank spokesperson added that he was not aware of Almas being accused in a case by the Detective Branch of police.
Meanwhile, detectives are looking for at least 15 other individuals involved in the leaking of questions from the recruitment test of five banks.
Shahadat Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of the DB (Tejgaon division), told The Daily Star that officers would conduct raids to arrest the suspects.
He added that Almas's involvement in the racket is still being investigated.
Talking to Channel 24 recently, Almas claimed that he had nothing to do with the leaking of question papers.
Meanwhile, Muktaruzzaman Royel, a technician of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), and Shamsul Haque Shyamol, an officer of Janata Bank, made confessional statements at a Dhaka court yesterday. They were both arrested on charges of leaking the questions of the five bank's recruitment tests.
According to investigators, three AUST employees, Delowar Hossain, an office attendant; Parvez Miah, a lab assistant; and Royal leaked the questions.
In his statement, Shyamol told the court that Delowar, Parvez, and Royal are his acquaintances. From them, he learnt that the AUST got the task to set the questions for the recruitment test of five state-owned banks.
Alam Milon, a senior officer at Rupali Bank in Savar, brought four job seekers to Shyamol who took them to Royal's house in Badda on the day of the exam.
Delowar, Parvez, and Royal provided the questions and answers to the four job seekers in the morning. In the afternoon, they sat for the exam, he said.
As per the deal, Alam gave Shyamol Tk 1 lakh. The latter gave Tk 50,000 to Royal on November 4.
Royal told the court that he gave Tk 25,000 to Parvez.
According to DB, the accused leaked question papers of at least four recruitment tests. Delowar is one the kingpins of the racket. He leaked the questions and handed those to Parvez and Royal.
The AUST authorities suspended the three on Wednesday.
Investigators said they also found the involvement of two other bankers, Emdadul Haque Khokon and Mostafizur Rahman Milon.
Officers are also looking for suspects named Jahangir Jahid, Rabiul Islam, and Sohel Rana, a sacked senior officer of a state-run bank.
DB found that individuals named Raisul Swapan, Mainul, Atik, Zakir, Helal, Titu, Azad and Shitol contacted the job-seekers for the racket.
On Thursday, Bangladesh Bank cancelled the preliminary test for hiring 1,511 cash officers in five state-owned banks. The individuals arrested over the leaking of questions include five bankers.
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