A Dhaka court on Monday rejected the bail application of Koushik Debnath, a programmer at Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC), and sent him to jail after he surrendered in a case filed over the leak of BCS examination question papers.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Shahjahan Kabir passed the order following a hearing, as confirmed by Md Riyaz Hossain, the bench assistant of the relevant court. Earlier in the day, the accused surrendered before the court, after which his defence lawyer, Md Shariful Islam, submitted a bail petition.
In the application, the lawyer argued that the allegations brought against the accused in both the First Information Report (FIR) and the charge sheet were completely false, baseless, and fabricated, asserting that Debnath was not involved in the incident.
The state prosecution strongly opposed the bail application. Following a hearing from both sides, the court rejected the bail and ordered him to be sent to custody.
Previously, on 7 July, Debnath had surrendered before the High Court to seek bail, which directed him to surrender within six weeks.
The case was originally initiated on 8 July 2024 at the capital’s Paltan Police Station by CID Sub-Inspector Nippon Chandra Chand as the plaintiff, under the Bangladesh Public Service Commission Act. The initial case accused 31 named individuals alongside 50 to 60 unidentified suspects.
Following the investigation, the investigating officer, CID Additional Superintendent of Police Suman Kumar Saha, submitted a charge sheet on 18 May against 55 individuals, including Abed Ali.
According to the charge sheet, the question leak syndicate was led by its mastermind, Abed Ali, who ensured that exam questions along with answers reached selected candidates before the examinations.
Candidates were brought to specific locations to memorise the questions and answers, and were sent to their respective exam centres on the day of the test. In exchange, the syndicate collected large sums of money in advance.
The investigation revealed that the network of this syndicate was spread across various districts of the country. The ring involved government employees, current and former PSC officials and staff, businessmen, medical-related individuals, students, and individuals from various other occupations.
The charge sheet further added that the network extended from the BG Press to various government institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
This organised syndicate remained active for a long period, breaking examination confidentiality and calling into question the state recruitment system.
