Comilla University Lecturer Abducted at Gunpoint in Daytime Highway Kidnapping
A Comilla University lecturer became the target of a brazen armed kidnapping in broad daylight on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, raising urgent safety concerns among the academic community in the city. In a separate development, an international research team visited Comilla University to repair tectonic monitoring equipment, navigating administrative delays and a post-uprising security environment to complete their scientific mission.
Comilla University Lecturer Held at Gunpoint, Robbed, and Released 45 km Away
Abdur Razzak Sohel, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Comilla University, was the victim of a frightening daytime abduction near the Kotbari area along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. He had been waiting at a roadside bus stop to travel to Dhaka when four armed individuals pulled up in a car and forcibly bundled him inside. The criminals held him at gunpoint and took the money he was carrying before releasing him hours later. The kidnapping occurred at approximately 2:30 pm on a Wednesday afternoon, falling under the jurisdiction of Comilla Sadar South police station. Razzak was released around 5:00 pm the same day, approximately 45 kilometres from where he had been seized, leaving him shaken but uninjured. The Kotbari area on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is a well-travelled corridor regularly used by university faculty, students, and commuters. The attack on a university lecturer — carried out in plain sight near a busy highway — drew shock from the Comilla academic community and prompted calls for improved security measures along the route. Police opened an investigation into the incident, which underscored persistent highway crime risks faced by those travelling between Comilla and Dhaka. [7]
🎓 International Research Team Visits Comilla University to Repair Critical GNSS Monitoring Station
A scientific team from EarthScope Consortium and Dhaka University visited Comilla as part of an ongoing effort to repair and maintain global navigation satellite system (GNSS) stations across Bangladesh. The team comprised EarthScope engineer Adam Woolace and Dhaka University scientists Sanju Singha and Zohur Ahmed. Arriving from Sreemongal after a road journey of 7.5 hours — longer than expected due to poor road conditions and traffic near Brahmanbaria — the team headed directly to Comilla University, which hosts a GNSS receiver on the roof of one of its campus buildings. The process of accessing the equipment proved unexpectedly complicated: after navigating administrative approvals and waiting for staff to locate keys, the team ultimately had to drill through a lock to reach the room housing their instruments. The repairs themselves were comparatively straightforward, involving battery replacement, installation of a low-voltage disconnect to guard against future power damage, and correction of wiring faults. These GNSS stations are part of a network that tracks tectonic plate movements and the ongoing subsidence of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the largest delta in the world and a region of intense scientific interest. The team spent a night in Comilla city before continuing to their next station, reflecting Comilla's role as a base for scientific fieldwork in eastern Bangladesh. [2]
Sources: [7] Prothom Alo English · [2] State of the Planet