Jahangirnagar University detains 7 for ‘cheating’ in admission test for blind candidates

A mobile court punishes a college student for giving proxy to a grade 10 scribe

Jahangirnagar University authorities have detained seven people, including two members of a fraud ring and five visually impaired candidates, on charges of giving proxy in the admission test.

The alleged members of the fraud ring are Sagar Hossain Rohan, a student of Dhaka College, and a visually impaired student of the university’s 2020-2021 academic year, Mahmudul Hasan Shawon.

The visually impaired candidates who reportedly engaged in malpractice include Delwar Hossain, Raju Ahmed, Md Tutul Hasan, Md Mehedi Hasan and Awal Hossain Arafat.

Invigilator Nurul Huda Sakib said on Monday that Rohan gave a proxy exam on Sunday afternoon for a visually impaired student, claiming he was a 10th grader.

“The authorities allow 10th-grade students as scribes for visually impaired students. But we were suspicious of Rohan because his physique was not that of a 10th grader,” said Nurul.

Rohan later admitted to being a student of Dhaka College following interrogation.

A mobile court sentenced him to one year in jail and imposed a Tk 200 fine for giving the proxy exam.

Visually impaired student Shaon was not given a jail term or fined on compassionate grounds, but the authorities decided to act against him as per the university’s rules.

The court has not given the visually impaired students any form of punishment, except for cancelling their exams, for ‘humanitarian reasons’.

Proctor A S M Firoz Ul Hasan said: “I have punished those who have been accused of changing their scribes during the exams. I will trace those involved in the proxy exam fraud ring and take legal action against them.”