Massive IELTS exam paper leak racket uncovered

Dhaka police on Saturday arrested Md Mamun Khan, 37, and his associate Panna Poonam Halder, also known as Keya, 26, in connection with a sophisticated racket that sold leaked IELTS exam papers to students.

Country’s leading newspaper; 'The Daily Sun' investigates the wider IELTS question leak network for several months.

Acting on information from an informant, joint forces tracked the group and swooped on them just hours after an exam. Police seized Tk8.38 lakh in cash and eight mobile phones during the operation.

Police said Mamun and Keya had arranged accommodation for students and their guardians the night before the exam. The students were coached on leaked questions and then escorted to exam centres across Dhaka.

Students who followed the racket’s instructions reportedly achieved their expected band scores, raising serious concerns over the integrity of the IELTS examinations in the country.

Months of investigation

The Daily Sun's special team had been investigating a separate, long-running IELTS question leak racket involving at least five people, including Miraz Hossain, Prince, Mehedi, Gias, and Tarek Aziz – an officer at TK Food Products Distribution Ltd.

The investigation began in January and intensified in April when a correspondent went undercover to gather evidence of students being coached on leaked questions in hotels.

On 25 April, a correspondent stayed at Hotel Afford Inn in Uttara, where around 100 students were lodged overnight. Leaked questions were reportedly handed out at mid-night, after students were separated into teams according to their exam centres.

The next morning, the students were transported by minibuses, microbuses, and CNGs to centres including Patronas at Panthapath, Compass at Banani, IALC at Dhanmondi, and Penstone at Uttara.

A similar operation was observed on 23 May at Hotel Central Inn in Motijheel, where 120-130 students were being prepared for the following day’s exam.

On 24 May, the Daily Sun obtained a copy of the IELTS questions at 9:45am, more than three hours before the exam began at 1pm. Beneficiaries later confirmed that their answers in the exam hall matched the leaked papers 100%. Payments for these services reportedly ranged from Tk1.25 lakh to Tk3 lakh, usually made after the exam.

Several students shared their experiences with the newspaper.

Md Al Amin Mia, who stayed at Hotel Afford Inn in April, said, “I needed Tk2.20 lakh to be added to the team.”

Arshadur Rahman admitted spending Tk1.4 lakh to secure his expected band score.

Even government employees have been benefitted from leaked questions.

For an instance, Shoylen Chakma, a sub-assistant engineer at the University Grants Commission, revealed that he paid Tk2 lakh, adding, “My answers in all three parts matched exactly.”

In the latest scam that led to the Saturday arrests, student Md Nadit Hasan Rocky said, “I had been taking IELTS coaching from Mamun Sir since February. He offered to supply me the exact answers for Reading, Writing, and Listening the night before the exam. Initially, I didn’t believe him, but later I accepted. The leaked questions matched 100%.”

Rocky paid Tk1.8 lakh, while other students reportedly paid up to Tk3 lakh each.

The Daily Sun has gathered ample evidences, including audio and video clips, to prove these allegations.

How the syndicate operates

The Daily Sun found that the IELTS question-leak syndicate works closely with certain coaching centres, including some popular online platforms. These platforms reportedly funnel students to the network and take commissions for each candidate.

The process begins with registration. Students initially pay only the official IELTS registration fee.

Before 8 June 2025, this fee was Tk24,950, but after the British Council raised it to Tk28,450, the syndicate started collecting the higher amount. By controlling the registration fee, the syndicate ensures influence over candidates and their exam dates.

Typically, one or two dates per month are chosen, always falling on Saturdays. Two days before the selected date, students are informed of their exam schedule.

The real operation begins the day before the test, usually Friday.

Right after Jummah prayers, agents from the involved coaching centres and online platforms gather their candidates. At this stage, only the student and one trusted person, holding the agreed payment, arrive at a designated spot.

Agents then collect all electronic devices from students, including phones, earphones, watches, and smart watches. The trusted person is then taken to a pre-booked hotel, while the agents’ role ends, having ensured the loyalty and financial reliability of the students.

Later in the afternoon, members of the main syndicate arrive and escort the students in controlled vehicles.

They deliberately take circuitous routes to prevent being followed. By 8-8:30 pm, the students arrive at a pre-arranged hotel, with a different hotel used for each exam date. At the hotel, students are shown to their rooms and instructed to rest until 1:30 am.

The syndicate provides dinner and strictly enforces rest, assigning one representative for every two rooms to maintain watch.

After 1:30 am, syndicate members return, dividing students by exam centre and assigning separate rooms. Before proceeding, each student is scanned with a handheld metal detector to ensure no electronic devices are present, reflecting the extreme care taken to avoid detection. Every step of the operation is executed with clockwork precision.

Once in the rooms, students receive the Writing Part questions and answers first, with around 4.5 hours to memorise and study them. If required, the syndicate provides AI-enabled devices to help improve answers.

Around 6am, students are given a short breakfast, fully arranged by the syndicate. By 6:30am, Reading Part answers are distributed with 1.5 hours to memorise, followed by the Listening Part at 8am, giving students two hours to prepare.

After 10am, students are grouped according to their exam centres and transported in pre-arranged vehicles directly to exam venues.

Once the exam concludes, students come to the hotels where their guardians stay and confirm to them that their answers matched the leaked questions.

Upon verifying the authenticity of the leaked questions and answers, the trusted persons hand over the agreed payment to the agents.

The role of agent Tarek Aziz

Investigations revealed that Tarek Aziz had been an agent to sell leaked exam papers.

When contacted by the Daily Sun in August, he demanded Tk2.70 lakh for a single student and claimed the racket had been operating successfully since 2019.

Aziz also alleged connections with officials at Cambridge English, IDP Bangladesh, and British Council, claiming he spent Tk2.5 crore to secure the leaked questions.

What exam authorities say

IELTS exams in Bangladesh are conducted by the official test centres of two international organisations – British Council and IDP Education.

When asked about insider involvement, Elora Shahab Sharme, head of IELTS Operations at IDP Education Bangladesh, said, “According to the protocol of IDP, I have no right to give any comment regarding this matter. A separate global media group handles all such issues.”

Several attempts, both in person and through email and telephone, made by the Daily Sun correspondents to contact British Council officials at Fuller Road yielded no response.

Saturday’s police operation

The recent arrests mark a separate, but related, development in Bangladesh’s IELTS scam landscape.

On Friday evening, Mamun and his associates had gathered students and guardians for the scheme.

Students were lodged at Hotel West Valley in Nadda under Gulshan police station, while guardians stayed at Amazon Lily Lake View Residence in Banani. Late at night, students were given leaked questions and coached on how to answer them.

On Saturday morning, around 11am, students were transported to exam centres including Compass Education, SALT Lab – English and Opportunity JFP Branch, and British American Resource Centre (BARC). The exam ran from 1pm to 5pm. After the test, students returned to Banani, where guardians were confirmed that the answers matched the leaked questions before making payments.

When the Daily Sun correspondent arrived at 5:55pm, Mamun was still collecting cash. He attacked the reporter and tried to snatch the camera but was detained by hotel security and locals until police arrived.

Banani police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Russell Sarwar said, “We took immediate action after receiving information about the racket. Both Mamun Khan and Panna alias Keya were arrested (on Saturday) and sent to court today (Sunday).”

The police produced the arrestees before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Sunday and appealed for a three-day remand after they were shown arrested in a case filed in this regard earlier on the day, however the court denied the bail plea and ordered sending them to the jail, added Sagar Shahriar, a sub-inspector of the police station.

A threat to country’s academic reputation

The exposure of these operations highlights serious flaws in exam security. Experts warn that dismantling the network will require joint action by law enforcement, the Ministry of Education, and international testing authorities.

Simply arresting operatives is not enough; authorities need to investigate potential insider leaks, audit suspicious results, and trace the financial networks moving crores of cash after each exam, they observe.

When asked about the potential impact of the IELTS question leak on the country, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said that If the IELTS question leak is proven true, there is a real possibility that Bangladesh’s IELTS test centers could be cancelled. The British Council and IDP must take full responsibility for this, as the IELTS question papers are delivered to Bangladesh in the same way they are delivered to other countries from Cambridge. The local authorities conducting the exams here cannot avoid accountability.

“In our country, leaks in local examinations have unfortunately become almost routine but an IELTS question leak is highly unexpected. This failure also reflects on Cambridge English, because such a leak cannot happen without internal involvement,” he also stated.