A candidate named Krishnakanta Roy (a graduate) has been arrested by police in Dinajpur on allegations of massive fraud during the written exam for the position of 'Assistant Food Inspector' under the Department of Food. The arrest was made on Saturday morning at the Carey Memorial High School center in the city's Khasmahal area, shortly after the exam began at 10 AM.
Although Krishnakanta Roy is a resident of Birol Upazila, he was staying at a student hostel in Dinajpur's Fakirpara area. Sources from the examination center reported that the candidate was coughing repeatedly and unusually in the exam hall. The invigilating teachers found this behavior suspicious, leading to his interrogation and a physical search. During the search, a special communication device was recovered from him.
During interrogation, Krishnakanta Roy admitted to the fraud and revealed that the mastermind of this question leak ring is based in Dhaka. He was acting on their instructions to use the device during the exam. The ring had instructed him to signal via coughing if the exam question paper set was 'Padma'. However, unable to fully comprehend the process, he kept coughing repeatedly, which ultimately led to his capture.
The arrested examinee provided startling details about the entire modus operandi. He stated that within 1 to 5 minutes of the exam starting, the question paper would be sent to the ring via WhatsApp. Subsequently, some teachers from coaching centers, operating from two student hostels in Fakirpara and Suihari areas of the city, would quickly prepare answer scripts for the different question sets.
Then, using the communication device, they would obtain the question set number from the examinees. The real operation would then begin: answers (A, B, C, D) would be rapidly dictated from the other end of the device in the order of the questions. The examinee would listen and immediately mark the answers on the question paper, later transferring them to the OMR sheet.
Additional Police Superintendent Anwar Hossain of Dinajpur stated that they had prior information about a candidate using a device at that center. After special surveillance, the suspect's behavior in room number 101 raised alarms, leading to his search and the recovery of the devices.
The most concerning revelation is that authorities have information suggesting at least 55 other candidates across various centers in Dinajpur were using similar devices to take the exam that day.
Additional District Commissioner (Education & ICT) S.M. Habibul Hasan said that one examinee involved in the fraud has been caught red-handed. To uncover more information about this ring, the arrested candidate's brother has been brought in for questioning, and a strengthened drive, in coordination with the police, is underway to bust the entire network.
