Hundreds of commuters aboard the Sagardari Express were left stranded for over an hour on Thursday evening at Mobarakganj Railway Station in Kaliganj upazila, Jhenaidah, after the train's loco master mysteriously abandoned the locomotive and locked its cabin during a brief scheduled stop.

Mobarakganj Station Master Shahjahan Ali stated that the intercity train pulled into the platform at 6:07 pm and was slated to stop for just two minutes before proceeding on its journey.

However, when station personnel issued the green clearance signal for departure, they discovered that the engine was turned off, the doors were locked, and loco master Mahbubur Rahman was completely missing from the scene.

The sudden halt triggered severe frustration among the stranded passengers, leading to vocal protests on the platform as the delay dragged on.

Fearing for their personal safety amidst the growing agitation, the station master and several railway staff members briefly abandoned their posts and retreated from the station premises.

The missing driver eventually returned to the locomotive at approximately 7:15 pm—roughly an hour and seven minutes after the train's initial arrival—and restarted the engine to resume the trip, though he firmly refused to offer any explanation to reporters regarding his sudden disappearance.

Train guard Shafiqul Islam confirmed that the service had departed Khulna as scheduled and reached Mobarakganj on time prior to the incident.

"After the train was given clearance to leave, we found that the loco master left the locomotive. We do not know why he did so," Shafiqul Islam remarked.