Authorities of the Sylhet Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board have seized a sack of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination answer scripts after allegations surfaced that a teacher was marking them at a tea stall with the assistance of his friends.
The seized scripts were for the Bangla Second Paper examination, reports bdnews24.com.
The answer scripts were recovered around 11:30 pm on Saturday from a tea stall near the main gate of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), according to the board's controller of examinations, Prof Bilkis Yasmin.
The examiner assigned to the scripts was Iqbal Hossain Sohan, a lecturer at Metrocity Women's College. He is a former student of the Department of Bangla at SUST from the 2017-18 academic session.
Several witnesses said that around 10:30 pm, Iqbal was marking HSC answer scripts at the tea stall alongside his friends. Two of his companions were also seen evaluating the scripts, they alleged. The answer scripts had been brought there in a rice sack.
After the incident was reported, officials from the Sylhet Education Board and police went to the spot, seized the scripts, and took the teacher to the local police station.
Jalalabad Police Station chief Shamsul Habib said, "The Education Board chairman came to the police station with the accused teacher. The board filed a General Diary (GD). Later, we handed the teacher back into the custody of the board officials."
Responding to the allegations, Iqbal said, "No answer scripts were marked there. They had already been evaluated. I was on my way to send them by courier and had stopped there only to organise the scripts."
However, a witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that Iqbal and three others had also been marking answer scripts at the same tea stall around 10:30pm on Friday.
A video obtained by bdnews24.com also appears to support that claim.
Among those present with Iqbal was Irene Linza, another former student of the Department of Bangla at SUST.
She said, "The scripts belonged to the teacher assigned to them. He is my friend and batchmate. I, along with some former SUST students, were there, but I had no involvement in the matter."
Although Prof Bilkis confirmed that the answer scripts had been seized, she declined to provide further details.
"I am extremely busy dealing with this issue right now. I'll speak later. I'm very busy at the moment," she said.