Two bus passengers have been killed in Taraganj upazila of Rangpur after allegedly being kicked and pushed out of a moving coach during an extortion attempt. The fatal incident occurred at approximately 8:00 am on Sunday along the busy Rangpur-Dinajpur highway in the Jigatala area, sparking immediate outrage and a highway blockade by furious local residents.
The deceased have been identified as Mukul Basunia, 28, and Shakib Basunia, 22, both residents of Basuniapara in Nilphamari Sadar upazila.
According to eyewitness accounts and family members, a group of six travellers from the same neighbourhood was returning home from the Mainamati area of Cumilla aboard a coach operated by Simon Exclusive Paribahan. One of the passengers, Atik Basunia, was carrying Tk 300,000 in cash. Trouble began shortly after the vehicle crossed Taraganj, when transport staff allegedly conspired to rob him.
Recounting the harrowing ordeal, Atik Basunia stated that the bus staff allowed the other passengers to disembark while deliberately keeping him on board. “The helper and the supervisor held me hostage and wrapped a towel tightly around my neck,” he said. “When Mukul and Shakib stepped forward to rescue me, the staff kicked them out of the moving bus.”
Atik added that his subsequent cries for help drew the attention of a passing microbus. The driver of the microbus pursued the coach and intercepted it in the Chikli area, allowing local residents to rush in and detain the vehicle. “Had they not stopped the bus, they would have killed me too,” he remarked.
Shakil Basunia, the elder brother of the deceased Shakib, confirmed that his uncle Atik had been carrying the substantial sum of money during their long-distance journey from Cumilla. He corroborated that the transport workers had isolated his uncle to extort the cash, fatally assaulting Mukul and Shakib when they intervened.
Upon receiving reports of the incident around 8:00 am, a rescue team from the Taraganj Fire Service arrived at the Jigatala scene. Firefighter Benzir Ahmed confirmed that responders found both men lying by the roadside. One victim had died instantly at the scene, while the second was rushed to a nearby hospital, where attending doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival. Ahmed noted that there were no physical signs of a conventional road collision at the site, and local bystanders informed the crew that the men had been deliberately thrown from the vehicle.
News of the killings spread rapidly, prompting agitated locals to barricade the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway in protest, halting vehicular movement and demanding exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. Highway safety and passenger security on long-distance routes in northern Bangladesh have frequently come under scrutiny, with travellers often voicing concerns over inadequate oversight of transport staff during overnight journeys.
Taraganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Monabbar Hossain described the incident as deeply tragic. He confirmed that law enforcement officers have since taken the bus driver and the supervisor into police custody as investigations into the double homicide get underway.
