Agricultural research council assistant director arrested in Youth Development question-leak case

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested another government official in the case filed over the leaking of question papers for a Department of Youth Development recruitment examination. The arrested man, Sohag Fakir (38), works as an assistant director at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC).

The CID confirmed the arrest on Wednesday. He was picked up on Tuesday night at around 10:30pm during a raid at Durgabardi village in Badarpasha Union of Rajoir Upazila in Madaripur. Two smartphones were seized from his possession during the raid, the CID said.

According to the CID, Sohag Fakir's location was identified on the basis of information obtained during the investigation of the case and intelligence inputs. The raid in Rajoir was carried out on the basis of that information.

Sohag Fakir's home is in the Sutarkandi area of Bajitpur Union in Rajoir Upazila of Madaripur. In his professional life he had been serving as an assistant director at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council.

The incident dates back to October 10, when the recruitment examination for the post of Assistant Upazila Youth Development Officer under the Department of Youth Development was scheduled to be held. The examination was postponed after allegations of a question paper leak surfaced.

A case was filed the following day, October 11, at Motijheel Police Station in the capital over the incident. The case was lodged under sections 4, 5 and 9(a) of the Public Examinations (Offences) Act, 1950.

As the investigation into that case has progressed, more names have come up, according to sources linked to the probe. Sohag Fakir is the latest person to be shown arrested in the case.

The CID said necessary steps were being taken to produce the arrested accused before a court. The investigation into the case is still continuing.

For candidates, uncertainty remains over when the postponed recruitment examination will be held again. Many candidates had prepared to sit the test for the post of Assistant Upazila Youth Development Officer.

Investigators believe the completed probe will make clearer who else was involved in the leak and how the question paper got out. For now, the process of producing the arrested official before the court is moving forward.