Youth Development exam question leak: Sohag Fakir arrested in Madaripur, two smartphones seized
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested a man named Sohag Fakir in the case filed over the leaked question paper of a Department of Youth Development recruitment exam. He was detained on Tuesday night during a raid in Rajoir upazila of Madaripur.
The CID said its team, helped by local police, raided Durgabardi village in Badarpasha union under Rajoir police station. Two smartphones were seized from Sohag Fakir's possession at the time of the arrest, and they may serve as important evidence in the investigation.
The CID shared the details in a press release sent to the media on Wednesday. It said the raid was carried out after investigators confirmed, through case evidence and intelligence, the direct involvement of the 38-year-old and located his position.
Md Chhufi Ullah, special superintendent of police at the CID's media wing, said: 'Sohag has claimed to be an assistant director of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). Because the institution is closed for the Puja holidays, his claim could not yet be verified.' In other words, his claimed identity is still awaiting confirmation.
The incident began on October 10, when the recruitment exam for the post of Upazila Assistant Youth Development Officer was scheduled to be held. Shortly before the exam began, a question paper circulating on social media was found to match the original.
Once the match was discovered, the authorities decided to postpone the exam. Thousands of jobseekers faced disruption, reaching centres or learning of the postponement at the last moment. Allegations of leaks in public recruitment tests are not new, but a leak caught just before the exam drew wide attention.
A case was filed on October 11 at Motijheel police station in the capital. It was lodged under sections 4, 5 and 9(a) of the Public Examinations (Offences) Act 1950, as case number 07. The investigation was then handed to the CID.
Sohag Fakir is not the first arrest in the case. The Special Response Battalion (SRB) had earlier arrested six people over the same incident. That suggests a network, rather than a single individual, was behind the leak, with members being identified one by one.
The postponed exam was eventually held on October 16, and a total of 5,386 candidates passed it. Many candidates still feel, however, that the leak has left questions over the transparency of the recruitment process.
The CID said the legal process to produce Sohag Fakir before a court is under way and the investigation is continuing in full swing. Investigators hope examining the two seized smartphones will reveal information about other members of the network.
Attention now rests on whether the masterminds of the leak ring will be caught and whether the investigation reaches the source of the leak — because every such incident puts the years of preparation of meritorious candidates at stake.
