JU teacher among the accused
Rapid Action Battalion early yesterday arrested 20 people, including a Jahangirnagar University teacher, in connection with selling fake question papers for the combined medical college and dental college admission test. Rab also seized Tk 8.26 lakh, 29 mobile phones and three motorbikes from the arrestees’ possession.
The arrestees include Mohammad Firozul Hasan, lecturer of government and politics department of Jahangirnagar University, Mohammad Tariqul Islam, former leader of Bangladesh Chhatra League, Manosh Dev, an employee of National Bureau of Revenue, Jewel Ahmed, an employee of Agrani Bank, Ashraful Alam, a Grameen Bank employee, Shohiduzzaman Shaheed, a Dhaka Medical College student, Monjur Alam, a dentist, and Jashim Uddin, a businessman.
The suspects had allegedly made a fake question paper and sold copies of it to admission seekers saying it was a leaked question paper.
Commander M Sohail, director of Rab’s Legal and Media Wing, said, “We picked up 65 people [in separate drives] and later freed 45 as they were admission seekers and their guardians. We are preparing to file a case in this connection against the 20 people.”
He said the 45 freed have agreed to be prosecution witnesses to the case.
Rab-2 produced the arrestees before a press briefing at its office in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar yesterday evening. Arrestee Jasim Uddin said he lost Tk 10 lakh in the stock market and that is why he hatched this plan to make a quick buck cheating students aspiring to become doctors.
He told former Chhatra League leader Mohammad Tariqul Islam that he got the real question paper leaked. Tariqul then contacted Tauhidul Islam, a teacher of MA Coaching Centre in Khilgaon, who started to gather admission seekers intending to buy the “leaked question paper”.
The Rab officials said they recovered some questionnaires from a house at Shyamoli and arrested Tariqul Islam, JU lecturer Firozul Hasan, and eight others in this connection around 1:00am yesterday. The other 10 were arrested at the coaching centre.
Following information gleaned from the arrestees, Rab conducted raids at Mirpur, Khilkhet, Hatirpool, Old Dhaka and picked up the others, said Mohammad Safiul Sarwar, assistant superintendent of police of Rab-2.
The gang made Tk 10 lakh deals with every admission seeker and took Tk 2 lakh in advance from each. They even took the SSC and HSC certificates of the admission seekers as security for getting the rest of the money paid afterwards.
However, the admission test was held at all the 19 centres across the country around 11:00am yesterday without any untoward incidents. The one-hour test consisted of multiple-choice questions.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque visited several centres in Dhaka and told journalists that they would ensure punishment of those involved in the fraud.
Over 51,000 students sat for the exams yesterday to get into 19 government medical colleges and three dental colleges and private medical and dental colleges.
The test was supposed to be held on September 23 but it was deferred after the arrest of a government press staff. The staff on September 13 managed to sneak outside the press with a question paper for the test.
-With The Daily Star input
