It’s not an ATM card!

Joining hands with a section of suspended and present employees of at least two government offices, a syndicate has been helping applicants secure government or bank jobs by leaking questions and facilitating cheating during exams.

The syndicate, which has an upazila vice-chairman as member, first come to an agreement with applicants of government or bank jobs for Tk 10 lakh to Tk 15 lakh. At least Tk 50,000 to two lakh has to be paid in advance.

To help them cheat, the syndicate provides clients with a special digital device, which looks like a regular ATM card but works like a mobile phone. They also provide a tiny, wireless ball-like earphone, capable of two-way communication.

As recently as Friday, the syndicate was involved in malpractice in the Office of Controller General of Defence Finance recruitment test.

Detective Branch (DB) of police came up with the findings yesterday, after arresting 10 people connected with the syndicate by conducting drives in different areas of the city during the test.

Police have recovered six digital devices, three sets of leaked question papers, five bank cheques and 16 cell phones from their possession.

Of the arrestees, Mahbuba Nasrin Rupa is the vice-chairperson of Dupchachia upazila in Bogura, while Mahmudul Hasan Azad is a suspended officer of Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh, said detectives. Other arrestees include members of the syndicate and some examinees.

They are Noman Siddique, Al Amin Rony, Nahid Hasan, Shahid Ullah, Tanjir Ahmed, Razu Ahmed, Hasibul Hasan and Rakibul Hasan.

Azad was previously arrested in 2019 and jailed for 36-day over the same crime, Mashiur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Gulshan) of DB police, told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, Nahid, Al Amin and Hasibul were arrested in 2013, 2016 and 2019 for involvement in question leak, said DC Mashiur.

Investigators said the process works across multiple layers.

For example, a syndicate member will sit for the exams as an applicant. As soon as the exam starts, the members send out the question through the digital device to a group of syndicate members skilled at solving questions.

The syndicate calls this group its "one stop solution centre", police said.

Once the question is solved, the answer is sent back inside the hall through the digital device.

Police said the same process took place on Friday's exam, which began on 3:00pm.

DC Mashiur said the syndicate buys the devices from China for Tk eight to 10 thousand.

"We have already shared our findings with the authorities concerned of Friday's auditor recruitment test," he said, adding that drives are on to arrest other members of the syndicate.

"We are now looking for an assistant railway station master who is in charge of sourcing the devices and who dragged [vice-chairperson] Mahbuba to the crime," he said.

Police said the syndicate has embezzled a huge amount through this process for a number of recruitment tests, including Department of Inland Shipping, Family Planning, Agricultural Extension and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.