Two job seekers were arrested at Noakhali Tax Zone office in Maijdee Bazar on Sunday night for allegedly using proxy examinees and forged admit cards to secure top positions in recruitment examinations.
The suspects have been identified as Nasfur Ullah Humayun, appointed to the post of office assistant cum computer typist, and Kamal Uddin, appointed as an office assistant.
Humayun is a resident of Brahmapur in Sadar upazila, while Kamal hails from Gulyakhali in Hatiya. It has been reported that Humayun’s maternal uncle, Nurnabi, is currently employed within Tax Department.
The forgery came to light when the duo arrived at the office to officially join their posts following the final selection of 112 candidates on 11 June.
Tax officials grew suspicious when they noticed that the physical appearances of the individuals did not match with the candidates who had ranked first in the written and viva-voce tests. Subsequent handwriting examinations and interrogation led the suspects to confess to fraud.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the candidates had entered contracts worth between Tk12 lakh and Tk20 lakh with a major fraud syndicate operating out of Dhaka and Chattogram.
In the case of Kamal, a youth named Abdul Hannan sat for the examination as a proxy. Kamal had reportedly struck a Tk12 lakh deal with a broker identified as Md Zulfiqar Ali Raihan.
The contract money was transferred from Hatiya branch of Al-Arafah Islami Bank to the Banasree branch of United Commercial Bank in Dhaka. The syndicate initiated fraud during the application process by replacing the original candidates’ photographs with those of the proxy examinees.
Following the confession, personnel from Sudharam Model Police Station and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrived at the scene and took the two into custody.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Md Liaqat Akbar confirmed the arrests, stating that the suspects are currently being held in police custody.
He added that legal action is being processed in coordination with the recruitment authorities, and efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining members of the fraud syndicate.
