With fake certificate she becomes Biman pilot

She studied in the humanities group. However, she took training to fly aircraft using a fake certificate from the Dhaka Board, pretending to have passed from science group. Sadia Ahmed joined Regent Airways as a first officer in 2013 with that fake certificate. She was fired in 2016 for incompetence and dangerous flying. In 2017, she joined US Bangla Airlines using the same license. However, she could not stay there for long due to incompetence.

She finally joined Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited as a first officer on a Boeing 737 in 2019. It was alleged that she was appointed due to the intervention of her husband, Captain Sajid Ahmed, the head of Biman's training department at the time. However, the recruitment process was questioned due to her failure to pass the licensing exam, incompetence, and lack of flying experience.

Later, Biman Bangladesh Airlines discharged her on March 30, 2023. At that time, when the issue of the Dhaka Board's fake certificate was revealed, the Civil Aviation Authority filed a fraud case against Sadia on November 22 of the same year, canceling her license.

This is how the story of an incompetent person becoming a pilot by forging a certificate could have ended, but Sadia challenged the decision of Civil Aviation and Biman and filed a review petition with the Civil Aviation Department.

An investigation committee was formed on the basis of that petition. And in that investigation, more surprising information about the certificate fraud came to light. This time, Sadia tried to prove her qualifications by bringing another fake certificate from the Technical Education Board. In the end, the issue of the fake certificate from the Technical Education Board was proven beyond doubt.

Views Bangladesh began its investigation based on this information. Based on the certificate submitted by Sadia to pass the HSC vocational examination in 2008 to obtain a pilot license, Views Bangladesh investigated at Joypara Government Technical School and College in Doha, Nawabganj.

Views Bangladesh's investigation found that there was no student named Sadia Ahmed in the 2006-07 session of Joypara Government Technical School and College.

According to the website of the Technical Education Board, Sadia Ahmed is a 2008 HSC student with roll number 802265 and reg number 696925, session: 2006-07. Her trade/specialization is Agro Machinery. Her father's name is Salah Uddin Ahmed, mother's name is Talat Zamani Majumdar.

After learning about the matter from Views Bangladesh, the authorities of Joypara Government Technical School and College formed a four-member investigation committee.

Based on the information received from the investigation committee, the college's principal Nur Uddin Ahmed issued a written report. According to the report, no student named Sadia Ahmed was studying in the institution for HSC in 2008. After checking the admission and result register, it is revealed that the name of the student with the above roll and registration is not Sadia Ahmed but Md. Nasir Uddin.

Further investigation revealed that Md. Nasir Uddin was admitted to the ninth grade of Joypara Government Technical School and College in the 2004 session. Then in 2006, he participated in the SSC examination got a GPA of 3.82, and passed under the Technical Education Board. At that time, his reg. The number was 004538 and the roll number was 303775. His father: Md. Nurul Islam, mother: Laili Begum.

Later, he was admitted to the same educational institution in the 2006-07 session and participated in the HSC examination from the Trade/Specialization Agro Machinery Department in 2008. His roll number was 802265 and reg. No. 696925. In 2008, he participated in the HSC Board Final Examination and failed. He failed in chemistry.

However, the certificate with the same roll and registration number shows that Sadia Ahmed passed her higher secondary school certificate exam with an A+ and got a GPA of 4.90.

When the authorities concerned at the Bangladesh Technical Education Board were contacted in this regard, they also expressed surprise.

Bangladesh Technical Education Board Secretary Md. Al Masud Karim told Views Bangladesh: "I am not aware of the certificate information fraud. However, we have taken various steps to restore the transparency of the Technical Education Board. A forensic team from BUET has already been given the task of verifying the information. When the forensic report is in our hands, it will be announced through a public notice."

Responding to information about how the certificate fraud took place, Bangladesh Technical Education Board Examination Controller Md. Kepayet Ullah said: "The board's information is given to Teletalk through a CD drive. It is believed that previous information was changed or forged there. A former system analyst has been fired for such a crime. In the past years, he was responsible for uploading to the computer server and sending CDs. Currently, the same person is not being given two responsibilities and at the same time, these issues are being kept under special surveillance."

Several officials, who did not want to be named, said that a group of officials and employees of the board have issued millions of fake certificates in exchange for money in the past decade. Diploma certificates in various subjects including engineering, medicine, technology, and fisheries have been sold. Many are working or studying in universities using these certificates. Several thousand teachers have also been registered as MPOs with about 30,000 fake computer education certificates. The certificates were given validity by uploading information to the board's server, making it difficult to identify fake certificates.