‘Leaked’ IELTS tests papers don’t match, police complaint leads to arrests

Police have arrested two people in Dhaka on charges of defrauding students by selling “leaked” IELTS exam papers.

Once the buyers found that very few of those questions appeared in the actual test, they filed a case against the two after being refused a refund, according to a police statement on Sunday.

The detainees have been identified as Panna Punam Hawlader alias Keya, 26, and Mamun Khan, 37.

According to the case dossier, they allegedly took large sums from examinees, promising them the exam questions and answers.

Police seized Tk 838,000 in cash, allegedly taken from students, along with eight mobile phones during the raid.

IELTS, or the International English Language Testing System, is a globally recognised test of English proficiency administered by the British Council and IDP. It is required for higher education, jobs, or immigration in English-speaking countries.

While exam question leaks are not uncommon in Bangladesh’s public examinations, such allegations are rarely heard in connection with IELTS.

According to police, a team from Banani Police Station conducted a raid at the “Amazon Lily Lake View Residence” hotel in Banani around 9:30pm on Saturday, leading to the arrests.

The case was initiated after Nadit Hasan Rocky, an IELTS candidate, filed a complaint with police.

Rocky had been taking tuitions at an institution called “Queen Global Consultant and IELTS”, through which he and other students came into contact with Mamun and Keya.

The duo offered to provide them with the IELTS questions and answers in exchange for large sums of money.

Rocky said he agreed to pay Tk 180,000 “believing their assurances”, only to later learn that they had taken Tk 100,000 to Tk 300,000 from each student.

On Sept 5, Rocky, along with his friend Tabibul Islam, met Mamun and Keya at the Banani hotel and paid them the money.

That night, the accused duo handed them several sets of questions with answers.

But during the actual test, the students discovered that only a few questions matched.

After the test, they returned to the hotel and demanded refunds, but Mamun and Keya allegedly refused to oblige them and issued threats instead.