Probe body recommends to punish teacher too for filming incident

An institutional probe committee has recommended punitive action against a teacher whom the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders and activists threatened at an exam hall in Chittagong Polytechnic Institute.

The committee also found the BCL men guilty and recommended punishment for them as well in its report submitted to the principal on Tuesday afternoon.

Swapan Nath, probe body chief and vice-principal of the polytechnic institute, told Prothom Alo that they recorded testimony of both sides and found some issues that deserve punishment.

“The recommendations have been made on the basis of testimonial evidence,” he asserted.

The incident took place on 8 February when the teacher – Prokash Shikdar – foiled three students’ attempts to adopt unfair means in the examination.

Having failed to execute their plan, the students – Muhitul Azim, Mifjahul Ashraf, and Mosharraf Hossain – left the exam hall after one hour of examination.

Later, they returned to the hall with the general secretary (GS) of the institute’s student union and BCL leader, Shahadat Hossain. Two other BCL men – Sadman Sakib and Md Kausar – also accompanied Shahadat.

They asked Prokash Shikdar to provide the answer sheets to the three examinees. As he denied, they abused him verbally and issued threats.

At one stage, examination controller Shahidul Islam came to the spot and gave back the answer sheets to the three examinees.

The abused teacher captured the entire incident on his mobile phone tactfully.

Later, the institute authorities formed a three member-probe body the next day, with vice-principal Swapan Nath as its chief. The committee recorded testimonies of 26 people and prepared the 5-page report.

A certain person, who is associated with the investigation, said on condition of anonymity that a BCL section has been trying to establish supremacy in the institute. Its leader was found involved in the incident as per the video clip, CCTV footage and testimonies.

The investigation committee recommended action against Shahadat, Kawsar and Sadman as per the institute’s student union regulations. Here, the maximum punishment is suspension from the student union.

Also, it sought punishment for three examinees under the examination rules. It means they might be expelled or their examination might be canceled, the college sources said.

The committee believes that the teacher also flouted the examination rules by capturing video on his mobile phone. This is why it sought punitive action against him too. He might face exemption from examination duties if maximum punishment is imposed on him.

In a conversation with Prothom Alo, Prokash Shikdar defended his stance, saying that the incident would not have been brought to light unless it was captured on the mobile phone.

“If a teacher brings a mobile phone to the exam hall, s/he does not misuse it,” he said, arguing that they also require the phone to have emergency conversations with the examination committee.

Lutfor Rahman, principal of the polytechnic institute, said they received the investigation report. It is still under seal. Actions will be taken later as per the report.