Fake multi-faced BCS official caught at Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

Muhibbullah was a familiar face in the corridors of the secretariat—the administrative hub of the capital—and at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), the nerve center of education administration. Everyone knew him as a BCS cadre officer. Beyond that, he had another fake identity—he posed as an APS (Assistant Private Secretary) to a state minister. Sometimes he even claimed to be a Joint Secretary. In other words, he wore a different guise in different places, using whichever identity suited his needs. This con artist was finally caught red-handed at DSHE popularly known as MAUSHI.

On Monday afternoon, Muhibbullah came to DSHE (MAUSHI) to lobby for a transfer using a DO letter from State Minister for Liberation War Affairs, Ishraque Hossain. The DSHE administration caught him in the act. The director of training and the assistant director of the administration branch searched his bag and recovered 13 fake DO letters, a fake ID card as an assistant professor of English at Badrunnesa College, a cheque for Tk 1 lakh, a checkbook from Sonali Bank, a list of phone numbers, a large number of visiting cards, and forged documents related to transfers of various posts from the Directorate of Primary Education and other government offices. After preliminary interrogation, he was handed over to Shahbagh Police Station.

DSHE officials said that Muhibbullah had been lobbying for transfers at directorate for a long time. Everyone knew him as a BCS cadre officer. In reality, he was a fraud. He would introduce himself as a 36th BCS cadre officer, or as an APS to a junior minister, or as a Joint Secretary. His bag contained DO letters from multiple ministers and state ministers, and a fake ID card of the BCS education cadre. Sometimes he would strut around in a suit and tie, puffing out his chest, introducing himself as an assistant professor of English at Badrunnesa College and a 36th BCS cadre officer. He always wore his self-made fake ID card around his neck. At the secretariat, he would claim to be the APS of this or that state minister, or a Joint Secretary.

On Monday, Muhibbullah arrived at DSHE with a DO letter from State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain. He was lobbying for the transfer of Ashik Mahmud, an accounts assistant of a school in Jamalpur, to be posted as an "accountant" at a college. But the rules were against it. The DO letter circulated through several desks before reaching the assistant director (administration). The cheap photocopy couldn't fool the experienced officials. Suspicion arose over the language of the letter, the reference number, and the signature, and other DSHE officials were alerted. On inquiry, they found that there was no assistant teacher named Muhibbullah in the English department of Badrunnesa Govt Girls' College. Then, when Muhibbullah's bag was searched, the entire racket of fraud was exposed.

Analysis of the fake DO letters revealed that Muhibbullah had been running this scam for a long time using the same modus operandi. In one letter, he used a fake letterhead of State Minister Ishraque Hossain to recommend the transfer of Mobashwera Akhter, an assistant professor of Political Science at Feni Government College, to Kazi Nazrul Government College in Dhaka. In it, Mobashwera Akhter was introduced as the state minister's younger sister. The letter cited the serious illness of her brother-in-law and her children's education as emotional reasons to request a transfer to Dhaka.
Another fake DO letter recommended transfer through political identity

In another forged DO letter, Professor Yusuf of the Islamic Studies department at Kazi Nazrul Government College was recommended for appointment (on deputation) as an inspector at the Madrasah Education Board. In this case, it wasn't family reasons but political identity that was exploited. The letter claimed that the professor was known to the state minister's constituency, had been involved in student politics (Chhatra Dal) during his student life, and was also described as a loyal follower of the nationalist ideology.

Transfer lobbying under the guise of family crisis
In the transfer application of Yusuf Hasan, an assistant teacher (Biology) from Fakirhat, the forged signature of the state minister and the directive "Take Necessary Action" were used to request a transfer to Bogura, his wife's workplace. The application attempted to garner sympathy from officials by highlighting a pitiful story—his sister-in-law living in a hostel, his father-in-law bedridden due to paralysis, and the need to care for two children.

Muhibbullah was not limited to MAUSHI; he regularly frequented the secretariat and other administrative buildings, assuming different identities at each place.

Regarding the matter, Professor Md. Nazmul Haque, Director (Colleges and Administration) of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, told Agamir Samoy: "In the afternoon, we apprehended an individual who came to lobby for a transfer using a fake DO letter from a state minister. The arrested person introduced himself as a 36th BCS officer. After the AD (Administration) and the Training Director confirmed his forgery, we searched his bag and recovered numerous forged DO letters, transfer applications, and fake identity cards created in the names of various government college vice-principals, education board officials, and the Directorate of Primary Education. We handed over this fraudster to Shahbagh Police Station immediately with concrete evidence of his forgery."

Shahbagh Police Station confirmed that preparations are underway to file a case against the arrested accused for forgery of government documents, providing false identities, and fraud. An investigation is ongoing to determine whether anyone else is involved in this racket.