Four Arrested for Proxy Exam Fraud at Ministry of Public Administration
A Dhaka court has ordered four individuals sent to jail after they were arrested for allegedly using proxies to pass recruitment examinations for office assistant positions at the Ministry of Public Administration. Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Md. Jonaid issued the order on Monday following a hearing, scheduling the bail proceedings for the defendants for Tuesday.
The four suspects—identified as Md. Abdur Alim from Tangail, Md. Ali Haidar from Sirajganj, Md. Rasel Rana Liton from Kurigram, and Md. Masud Fakir from Gazipur—were taken into custody at the Secretariat on Sunday evening. The arrests followed an investigation into fraudulent recruitment practices, initiated after administrative officer HM Arifur Rahman filed a formal complaint with the Shahbag Police Station.
According to court documents, the Ministry of Public Administration had issued a recruitment notice for 20 vacant office assistant positions on May 5. Following a written exam held on June 19 and subsequent oral examinations conducted between June 24 and 26, the ministry announced the final selections on July 6. The successful candidates were instructed to report to the Secretariat on Sunday morning to finalize their employment.
During the induction process, officials became suspicious of the candidates' behavior and physical appearance. A subsequent facial verification check, which compared the applicants to the photographs taken during their original oral examinations, revealed significant discrepancies. Under questioning by authorities, the four individuals confessed that they had paid intermediaries to sit for the exams on their behalf.
The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md. Abdul Gaffar of Shahbag Police Station, had requested that the suspects be held in custody until the investigation is concluded. While defense attorneys Naznin Akter and Md. Monir Hossain filed motions for bail, the court opted to defer the decision until the hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
