Bangladesh expects October decision on three-year delay to LDC graduation

A family in Cumilla's Chandina upazila is waiting for confirmation after a message from Russia said that 24-year-old Mohammad Sagar, who had joined the Russian army, was no longer alive.

Sagar's friend in Russia told his sister by phone on Saturday, 17 October, that he had died, his family said. The friend did not say when or how Sagar died, and the family has not been able to reach him since for more details.

Sagar, the youngest of three sisters and two brothers, left school early and worked as a rickshaw-van driver at a rod and cement shop in Chandina to help support his parents. In mid-2025 he went to Russia with help from the shop's manager, paying Tk6 lakh, and found work in a bakery earning about Tk70,000 a month, according to his family.

While in Russia, he met a Bangladeshi broker who, the family says, offered him Tk30 lakh in a one-time payment to join the Russian military. Sagar left the bakery and joined the army in May this year. His contact with his family stopped after that.

His uncle, Abdul Awal, said he had warned Sagar against enlisting when Sagar told him about the plan. "He did not even finish primary school. How would he serve in a foreign army? A broker there misled him and put him into the Russia-Ukraine war as a soldier," Awal said.

Sagar sent Tk3 lakh to his bank account before he went to the front, his uncle said. His father, Kabir Hossain, a vegetable trader who has been ill for a long time, said the family borrowed money to send him abroad. "I have not been able to speak to my son for four or five months. Now I hear that my son is no more. I want to know whether he is really dead. If he is, I want to see his body at least once," he said. His mother, Delowara Begum, was left speechless by the news, relatives said.

Chandina Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Ashraful Haque told Prothom Alo that the administration had sent municipal staff to the family's home after learning of the report. He said there was no confirmed information beyond the friend's message and that officials were looking into the matter.

The case echoes warnings from Bangladesh authorities about trafficking rings that recruit young men for the Russian military. On 14 October, the Special Response Battalion said a ring had lured at least 30 Bangladeshis with promises of construction jobs, confiscated their passports and phones, and handed them to the Russian military. At least 20 of those recruits were killed in drone strikes, including 17 on their first day at the front, the unit said. Two alleged ringleaders were arrested.

Sagar's family is now seeking help to establish what happened to him and, if his death is confirmed, to bring his body home.

A group of masked armed men stopped vehicles on a hilly road in Cox's Bazar on Monday and robbed more than 100 passengers, taking many of them into the nearby forest and beating them, according to police and victims.

The attacks took place in two phases, around 8am and again around midday, at Himchhari Dhala on the Eidgaon-Eidgar-Baishari road, which runs through the hills of Eidgaon and Ramu upazilas. Victims said the gang, made up of 10 to 12 men, held up 50 to 60 vehicles, mostly CNG-run autorickshaws and motorcycles, over about two and a half hours.

Eidgaon Police Station Officer-in-Charge ATM Sifat-ul Mazdar confirmed the robberies. He said local criminals had blocked the road, looted the vehicles and fled into the forest. Several police teams were sent to search the area and patrols were increased along the 17-kilometre road, but no arrests had been made by Monday evening, he said. The officer could not confirm the exact number of vehicles involved.

Victims described being forced off the road and taken into the forest. Robiul Islam, manager of an NGO's Eidgar branch, said he was riding a motorcycle from Eidgaon Bazar to Eidgar around noon with another person when the gang stopped them. They were beaten and robbed of Tk1.2 lakh in cash, two mobile phones and documents, he said.

Abdul Hakim, an accountant at another NGO's Eidgar branch, said he was travelling in an autorickshaw with two others when armed men intercepted them. They were taken into the forest, assaulted and robbed of Tk1.5 lakh and a bank cheque book, he said.

Another victim, Mohammad Tarek, said he escaped by jumping from a moving autorickshaw after the gang stopped it in the morning. His mobile phone was taken.

Residents of the area said robberies and kidnappings for ransom have recurred on the road, and called for stronger security for commuters. Police said they were continuing operations in the forested sections.

The road is a busy link for people travelling between Eidgaon, Eidgar and Baishari, with long stretches passing through remote hills and forest.