Some more current and former officials of the Public Service Commission are involved in leaking questions for government recruitment tests, police and intelligence officials said.
The Daily Star has details about the involvement of a top PSC official and a mid-ranking official in leaking questions, but it is withholding their names as it could not independently verify the information.
Sources said that the top official was served with a show cause notice at a government office over a corruption allegation. He was later transferred to the PSC.
At least two officials secured Bangladesh Civil Service jobs in collusion with the mid-ranking PSC official. One of them is the son-in-law of the mid-ranking PSC official. He had served as a sub-inspector of police before joining the force as a BCS cadre, sources said.
“It’s not possible for one or two people to leak exam questions. A group of people worked like a syndicate. We are hopeful of getting the details during the investigation,” a top PSC official told The Daily Star requesting anonymity.
The group, involving PSC officials and employees, leaked at least 30 question papers of government recruitment tests, including BCS exams, over the last 12 years. This came to light after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police picked up 17 people, including five PSC officials and employees, from the capital on Sunday and Monday.
The arrests were made after CID got information that the questions for a railway recruitment exam held on July 5 were leaked. A case was filed with Paltan Police Station on Monday night accusing 31 named people, including a former assistant director of PSC, and 50 to 60 others unnamed.
The five arrested officials and employees were suspended by the PSC on Tuesday.
“At least 50 people were involved in the question leak of the recruitment test of the railway. Among them are several current and former PSC officials,” a high official of the CID told The Daily Star yesterday requesting anonymity.
According to investigators, many people have passed PSC exams after having leaked questions, and they are now working as BCS cadre civil servants.
Those who passed the PSC exams after paying for leaked questions are now in fear of actions against them, sources said.
CID officials said the syndicate leaked questions to at least 10 candidates of the 33rd BCS exam and three of them are currently serving in different cadres of the civil service. Besides, the names of several other cadre officials, including those selected in the 28th and 35th BCS exams, came up during the investigation.
Of the 17 arrestees, six made confessional statements before a Dhaka court on Tuesday.
In his statement, PSC dispatch rider Khalilur Rahman said that he leaked questions to 10 candidates of the 33rd BCS examination. Six of them passed the written test, but three could not pass the viva voce exam, said court sources.
Khalilur also said that he used to introduce the jobseekers to a former top PSC official.
If he was given the go-ahead by that official, the final decision regarding how much the jobseeker would have to pay for getting selected for government jobs.
Khalilur also played a role in the recruitments of some assistant upazila education officers and railway employees, said investigators.
During the 33rd BCS exam in 2012, a case was filed against Khalilur with Shahbagh Police Station over question leak. A departmental case was also filed against him.
At that time, the Rab arrested him. He got out on bail. He was also suspended from the job.
In March 2022, the charges brought against him were withdrawn due to lack of evidence. Since then, Khalilur has been working as a dispatch rider of the PSC.
Investigators said Khalilur was able to get involved in leaking questions due to the backing from the PSC top official.
Touhidul Islam, special superintendent of the CID’s cyber investigation and operations, told The Daily Star yesterday, “Legal action will be taken against those found involved in leaking questions.”
Meanwhile, the PSC yesterday wrote to the Anti-Corruption Commission asking it to investigate the five arrested PSC officials and employees in connection with amassing illegal wealth.
The five are deputy directors Abu Zafar and Jahangir Alam, assistant director Alamgir Kabir, dispatch rider Khalilur, and office assistant Sajedul Islam.
The PSC also asked the ACC to inform it about their wealth.
Meanwhile, sacked PSC driver Syed Abed Ali and several other accused told investigators during interrogation that jobseekers were brought to the “reading booth” two nights before the July 5 recruitment test.
The jobseekers were kept in a rented house in Savar and a warehouse in the capital’s Paltan so that they could memorise the answers to the leaked questions.
Abed rented the house for Tk 40,000 a month in Radio Colony of Savar. He took the leaked questions and answers from Sajedul.
Around 50 jobseekers memorised the answers in the house. Abed took Tk 7 to 8 lakh from each of them, said CID sources.
Before another recruitment test held several months ago, Abed rented another house in the capital’s Mirpur and took 44 jobseekers there. The syndicate collected Tk 4 lakh from each of the candidates.
According to investigation sources, Sajedul in his confessional statement before a court said that he got the question papers for the railway recruitment test from a chest of a PSC member. He said he sold the question paper to Abed and Khalilur for Tk 75 lakh.
Daily Star
Very interesting events. here is what I observe from this story:
1. The pot calling the kettle black. Isn’t the police as much or more corrupt than these govt. officials? If those whose job it is to deter criminal/corrupt behavior are themselves corrupt, then why others will not follow suit? Interestingly, the guy involved was a police sub-inspector before!
2. This leaking of questions have been going on for at least 12 years as per the article. So, the question arises that how could it go on for so long without being detected by our super-intelligent Intelligence Branch? Could it be that the Police as well as the DIB officers, up and down the entire chain or command not only knew about it but were being paid off by these people? So, were they also active collaborators in this scheme too?
3. It seems that always the little guys – the dispatcher, the driver, etc. get caught and not the big honchos involved.
4. I would suggest that this is going to create additional demand for corruption in many other places. Those who who stole the questions and those who bebefitted from them are now probably runing from pothole to pothole to collect more bribes to pay off the police who may come after them – actually not to arrest them, but to collect bribes themselves.
Welcome to Bangladesh.