A ring of fraudsters has become active over the 2018-2019 upcoming admission exam of Rajshahi University.
There is evidence of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) complicity in the fraudulent operation. It’s believed that BCL leader Tarek Ahmed Khan Shanto has demanded Tk. 250,000 from an admission seeker.
BCL is the student affiliate of the ruling Awami League.
Bangla Tribune has come in the possession of an audio recording, purported to be between the student leader and the admission seeker.
In the phone conversation, an admission seeker pleads with Shanto to get him admitted to the university, saying money “will not be a problem”.
In response, the voice on the other end, believed to be of Shanto, says: “Proxy system will be followed, under which, another person will give the exam.”
He also says that Tk 300, 000 will be needed and the money can be paid after the result is published and admission guaranteed with the name of the actual admission seeker in the merit list.
“The experts who give the tests come from Dhaka and you have to pay some advance for their accommodation.”
After some bargaining, the amount agreed on by both parties is Tk. 250,000, as per the recording.
Meanwhile, Shanto says: “This phone call was made to incriminate me.”
It’s found that while many students are arrested for exam fraud, they are later released.
In 2017, Rajshahi University BCL Joint Secretary Sabbir Hossain was arrested while giving a proxy exam and though he was expelled from BCL, the expulsion order was later withdrawn.
Several other BCL leaders had cases lodged against them for their involvement in exam fraud, but later, no punitive measures were taken.
Rajshahi University BCL General Secretary Faisal Ahmed Runu, said: “We do not know of any of our activists involved in such unethical work.”
Proctor Professor Lutfur Rahman, said: “Like the previous year, the security will be stringent and law enforcers will be alert to prevent fraudulence of any sort.”