The recent leakage of the question paper of recruitment tests of five state-owned banks surprised everyone. It happened at a time when different government and private organisations started the recruitment process after a long hiatus due to the corona pandemic. There were alarming reports in the media that the fraudsters who leaked the question paper had embezzled millions of taka. As reported, a total of 116,427 jobseekers sat for the recruitment test against 1,511 posts. But the leaked questions reached several thousand job seekers long before the tests. Besides, the answers to questions for the test were also available online.
Police have arrested five bank officials and three employees of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) on charges of leaking bank recruitment test questions. A laptop, five mobile phones, four question papers, four answer scripts, photos of answer scripts on WhatsApp, a photocopy of an admission card and Tk 6 lakh in cash were seized from them. AUST was in charge of exam management. From the evidence that has been gathered so far, it is clear that the employees of the concerned department of this university are involved in the fraud. Police sources said, a member of the Detective Branch disguised himself as an examinee and paid advance money to Raisul Islam, one of the ringleaders of the question paper and answer sheet leak gang. Later, Raisul was arrested along with examination scripts. Based on his confession the main leader of the gang and others were caught red handed from different areas of the city.
Citing unavoidable reasons, the Bangladesh Bank has cancelled the preliminary examination for the appointment of officers (cash) of the five state-owned banks after it came to know of the question paper leakage of recruitment tests. But the question is will this step reduce the anxiety of millions of job seekers? It is evident that lack of seriousness of the administration over the matter has encouraged the miscreants and they are continuously leaking question papers of job recruitment tests as well as other public examinations plus admission tests of medical colleges and universities.
