Eight pieces of luggage belonging to Rajshahi Division cricketers have reportedly gone missing from a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) covered van while being transported from Dhaka to Rajshahi after the second round of the National Cricket League (NCL). The disappearance was discovered on Wednesday morning when the team’s belongings were being unloaded at a hotel in Rajshahi.
Cricketer SM Meherab Hasan has filed a general diary (GD) with Rajpara Police Station in Rajshahi Metropolitan Police in connection with the incident. Police from Rajshahi district, Natore district and Rajshahi Metropolitan Police are jointly investigating the matter and working to recover the missing luggage.
Rajshahi Division had played against Khulna Division at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur during the second round of the NCL. The players returned to Rajshahi by air on Wednesday morning, while a BCB covered van carrying the team’s 54 pieces of luggage had set off from Dhaka the previous night.
According to the GD filed by Meherab Hasan, the van’s driver, Sajib, said he had checked the rear door of the vehicle at Hatikumul in Sirajganj while travelling towards Rajshahi. At that point, the door was reportedly locked.
The driver later stopped for breakfast at Bonpara bypass in Natore, where he spent around 15 to 20 minutes. The exact time and location at which the luggage went missing remain unclear.
The GD states that at around 5.30am on Wednesday, as the van approached Puthia Bazar, another vehicle’s driver, travelling behind it, alerted Sajib that the rear door was open.
Sajib subsequently stopped the van beside a fuel station on the Natore side, before passing Puthia Bazar, and found that the rear door was indeed open. He closed the door and continued towards Rajshahi.
At around 6am, when the van reached the hotel in Rajshahi and the luggage was being unloaded, the team discovered that eight bags were missing.
The missing luggage reportedly contained valuable personal belongings, including passports, iPhones, US dollars and several lakh taka in cash. The loss has raised concerns among the affected players, particularly because passports and other essential items may be difficult to replace at short notice.
Meherab Hasan has declined to comment on the incident. Other members of the Rajshahi Division team, however, have expressed concern over the disappearance.
The players are scheduled to face Chattogram Division in Rajshahi from 18 November. With the fixture approaching, the loss of their personal belongings has created additional difficulties for the team.
Rajshahi Division team manager Touhid Tarek said the incident had left the team embarrassed and concerned. He confirmed that the matter had been reported to the police and that the authorities were coordinating efforts to recover the missing luggage.
Rajpara Police Station officer-in-charge Abul Kalam Azad told Prothom Alo at around 5.30pm on Wednesday that the incident could have occurred either in Rajshahi or Natore.
As the precise location remains uncertain, police from Rajshahi district, Natore district and Rajshahi Metropolitan Police are working together to investigate the disappearance.
Investigators are expected to examine the van’s route, the circumstances surrounding the open rear door and the stops made during the journey. However, as of Wednesday evening, there had been no confirmed report of the missing luggage being recovered.
