State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque on Wednesday said exemplary punishment will be ensured against those involved in the question paper leak in the recruitment examination for the post of Assistant Upazila Youth Development Officer under the Department of Youth Development.
“Anyone found to be involved in the incident will face exemplary punishment, whether they are an official of the ministry or someone from outside,” he said while talking to reporters at a press briefing on the Youth Volunteer Award at Secretariat.
Aminul said the recruitment examination was scheduled to be held at 11am on October 10 and they received information about the question paper leak around 10 am on the day.
He immediately informed the officials concerned and asked them to verify whether the leaked questions matched those in the original paper.
The authorities later suspendpended the examination, he said.
He expressed his sincere regret over the incident saying that many candidates had travelled from different parts of the country in the hope of securing jobs but they were disappointed by the suspension of the examination.
Aminul said an investigation committee was formed immediately after the incident, and a new date for the examination was also set.
The rescheduled examination will be held at 3pm on Friday, October 16.
The state minister said the committee was initially asked to submit its report within three days but it sought more time to examine the incident thoroughly, identify the actual cause and determine who was involved.
The committee has been given until Sunday to complete its investigation, he said.
Aminul said investigators are also examining whether any syndicate involved in previous question paper leaks had links to the incident.
The National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) are working on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has formed a forensic team to collect evidence related to the incident, he added.
The roles of members of the recruitment committee, as well as those involved in printing or photocopying the question papers and distributing them to different examination centres, are being examined, Aminul said.
Asked why the examination is being rescheduled while retaining the existing recruitment committee, Aminul said the identities of those involved in the leak have not yet been established.
He said he did not want to accuse anyone before the investigation is completed.
However, when asked whether the recruitment committee could avoid responsibility, he replied, “Definitely not.” He added that a strict message hadsbeen conveyed to those concerned.
The state minister expressed hope that the investigation would identify those involved in it.