A university student sustained severe injuries after being stabbed by a gang of muggers whilst travelling on the roof of a moving train in the capital’s Mohakhali area on Monday evening. The attackers fled with his personal belongings, highlighting long-standing safety concerns along Bangladesh’s railway routes and the persistent hazards of rooftop train travel.
The victim, 22-year-old Hasanuzzaman Sajid, is an undergraduate civil engineering student at the Bangladesh Army University of Engineering and Technology (BAUET) in Qadirabad, Natore. According to family sources and his uncle, Shahidur Rahman, Sajid had travelled from Jamalpur to Dhaka’s Uttara sector on Sunday to visit a friend’s relative during an academic break.
The incident took place at approximately 7:30 pm aboard the Jamalpur-bound Brahmaputra Express, shortly after it departed from Kamalapur Railway Station. Intending to return to his family home in Jamalpur, Sajid had boarded the carriage roof—a widespread, albeit illegal and precarious, practice among commuters facing crowded services.
As the train crossed the Mohakhali corridor, a gang of seven to eight criminals encircled him. Sajid reported that the men brandished knives, repeatedly stabbing him across his hands, chest, back, and left leg. The assailants stripped him of his mobile phone and a wallet containing 8,500 taka in cash before escaping along the carriage tops.
Left bleeding on the roof, Sajid was rescued when the train slowed near the Airport Railway Station. Local bystanders and Constable Mohammad Rubel Pramanik from the Airport Railway Police outpost managed to bring him down safely. Emergency responders initially rushed the student to Kurmitola General Hospital. Due to the severity of his multiple puncture wounds, doctors transferred him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 10:00 pm for specialised treatment.
Inspector Mohammad Habibur Rahman, in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital police camp, confirmed that the student is receiving emergency medical care and that the relevant railway police station has been formally notified to launch an investigation.
Rooftop travel remains a dangerous fixture of Bangladesh’s railway network, driven by seat shortages and ticket availability issues. Night-time journeys present severe security risks, as poorly lit carriages and rooftop areas offer minimal protection against organized gangs operating along urban railway corridors. Authorities face growing calls to tighten security checks at major terminals like Kamalapur to prevent passengers from accessing carriage tops, alongside increased trackside patrolling in high-risk zones like Mohakhali and Airport Station. Law enforcement personnel are attempting to identify the assailants and recover the stolen items.
