Buet Prof Nikhil secures bail in case over question paper leak
Buet Prof Nikhil Ranjan Dhar got bail yesterday, 30 minutes after his jail custody in a case filed over the question paper leak of bank recruitment exams in November 2021.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Ahmed passed the order after Nikhil Dhar accompanying his lawyer Tuhin Howlader appeared before it and sought bail in the case, said an official of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.
During the hearing on the bail petition, the lawyer told the court that his client was not involved with the question paper leak. He was implicated in the case just to harass him. Moreover, the teacher had been suffering from different ailments including heart disease, the lawyer added.
The prosecution, however, opposed the bail petition saying that the charges brought against him were primarily proved and that's why he should be sent to jail.
Upon hearing both sides, the magistrate turned down the defence pleas and ordered to send the teacher to jail.
Soon after the order, the defence lawyer submitted another petition for reconsidering the bail on health grounds.
The magistrate then granted him bail upon a bond of Tk 2,000 with two guarantors.
Earlier on February 5, another Dhaka court accepted the charges against Buet Prof Nikhil Ranjan Dhar in a case filed over the question paper leak of bank recruitment exams in November 2021.
After accepting the supplementary charge sheet submitted against Nikhil Dhar, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shahidul Islam issued an arrest warrant against him.
On January 31, Prof Nikhil was charged with involvement in a bank recruitment question paper leak even though the investigation officer (IO) had earlier dropped his name from the charge sheet.
IO Shamim Ahmed, a sub-inspector of the Detective Branch (DB), on November 16 last year submitted a charge sheet, excluding Prof Nikhil as an accused.
Prof Nikhil was charged after a Dhaka court summoned IO Shamim to show cause why and how he relieved Prof Nikhil from the charges.
The case was filed with Badda Police Station under the Public Examinations (Offences) Act in November 2021.
Following the question leak in recruitment tests of five state-owned banks on November 6, 2021, the detectives have so far arrested 11 people.
Photos of the question papers with answers went viral on social media even before the exam ended.
Initially, Bangladesh Bank ignored the question leak complaints and did not make any immediate enquiry.
Later, it cancelled the examination as several media outlets carried reports suggesting the question had been leaked.
The name of Prof Nikhil came up in Delowar's confessional statements during the investigation in the case filed with Badda Police Station under the Public Examinations (Offences) Act in November 2021.
A few days later, on November 21, 2021, Nikhil was relieved of the chairman post of Buet's industrial and production engineering department and exam-related duties.
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