Chairman himself was the lone Master’s student of a university department in Bangladesh

Akkas Ali, removed from the office of chairman of the Gopalganj university’s computer science and engineering department, is also the first student who took the Master’s certificate from the very department when he was in its charge in 2017.

After the post-graduate course was introduced that year, he “completed” classes, exams and thesis within six months.

Shahjahan Ali, the then dean of the university’s engineering faculty, has no knowledge when and how the classes and exams were held.

“These appear false and fabricated to me. We did not know anything about the launch of the course or exams though we were supposed to,” Shahjahan told bdnews24.com on Friday. 

Akkas “sat” the first semester exams within two months of his admission in April,  2017.

It was Akkas himself who had supervised the “making of the question papers, moderation and distribution of answer sheets”.

According to him, Moushumi Bala was “one of the teachers who took the classes and exams” at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University or BSMRSTU.

Moushumi, who worked as a part-time teacher at the department from April to October in 2017, said she indeed signed the transcript of the results as the evaluator, but knew nothing about the classes and exams.

“I had just joined the department then. I had to do what the chairman told me. I had no other option,” she said.

Moushumi said it had surprised her when she had seen the “answer sheets”.

“How did he (Akkas) have these even after being the examinee? However, I had to sign the transcript. I left the department afterwards,” she said.

Akkas, who hails from Faridpur’s Nagarkanda, claimed the course had been launched before he took the certificate, but there had been no student.

“I got admitted and completed [the course] in the first batch as I didn’t complete Master’s,” he told bdnews24.com.

Students, who are graduating in 2018 and 2019 sessions, are enrolling in the Master’s course now, he said.

FILLING FORMS AS HE WISHED TO SHOW ELIGIBILITY

Akkas admitted he put his record in papers as he deemed fit to show his eligibility for enrolment.

In the application for admission, he himself wrote 60 percent credit transfer, which is 22 out of 36, is accepted.

He showed that he received the credits in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology or BUET.

He actually had only 18 credits or 50 percent, 10 percentage points short of what was required for enrolment.   

Akkas had also written in the transcript that he had completed thesis, but there had been no supervisor, let alone a thesis.  

It means he forged the admission papers.

Asked why he had done it, he replied: “I filled it as per my wish because I had [to fulfil] the 60 percent requirement.”

The university’s Examinations Controller SM Golam Haider said he could not answer questions as he “was very busy” when bdnews24.com contacted him for comments on forgery by Akkas. 

Haider did not receive bdnews24.com phone calls later.

Amid widespread criticisms and student protests against Vice-Chancellor Khondoker Nasiruddin for alleged abuse of power, corruption and irregularities, the university was closed on Sept 21 but the demonstrations have continued . 

Nasiruddin did not take phone calls or replied to SMS for comments on Akkas’ forgery.