UGC official dies in RAB custody after arrest over question leak charges

University Grants Commission (UGC) Assistant Director Omar Siraj, arrested for allegedly helping candidates to cheat during medical admission test, has died in Rapid Action Battalion’s custody.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 1 Oct 2015, 08:49 PM
Updated : 2 Oct 2015, 04:52 PM

RAB said he was taken to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) on Thursday afternoon after he had complained of chest pain.
 

Siraj, 35, was sent to the elite police force’s custody for questioning along with two others on Sep 20, two days after he was arrested during a raid at the UGC’s Agargaon office.
RAB-4’s ASP ‘Mujahid’ Thursday night told bdnews24.com: “He (Siraj) was remanded for two days. He was supposed to be produced before court tomorrow (Friday).”
“We rushed him to NICVD at around 5:30pm after he complained of chest pain. He died there at around 7:15pm.”
No official cause of death was available from any duty doctors. Siraj’s body was sent to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital for autopsy.

He died in custody at a time when students are demonstrating for a fresh medical and dental admission test, alleging the one held on Sep 18 was taken on leaked question papers.

Apart from Siraj, the RAB during its raid that day had arrested Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission (BJSC) storekeeper Rezaul Karim and a youth identified as Ishan Imtiaz Hridoy.

After their arrests, RAB claimed to have seized 23 answer sheets and two question papers of the BJSC 2014 assistant judge recruitment test.

It also recovered Tk 200,000, cheques of Tk 400,000, seals of several government organisations, cheque books of several banks, three mobile phones, and an iPad.

The elite police unit also said Omar Siraj was the kingpin of a ring that provided students with answers with the help of Bluetooth earphones.

It said the group helped the candidates during test for admission to MBBS, BDS courses and for recruitment to Bangladesh Krishi Bank, BJSC and other government organisations.

The UGC later had temporarily suspended Omar Siraj.