An aspiring cricketer broke his right leg as a bus went over it after two hijras allegedly assaulted and pushed him off another moving bus for refusing to pay them money in Khamarbari area of the capital.

Sujan Miah, 20, is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Doctors say his recovery would take several weeks.

These days, hijras get on buses on various city routes and demand money from passengers. They often harass anyone who refuses to pay, and such incidents are increasing, alleged several city dwellers.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Sujan said the incident happened on Monday evening when he was going to his relative's house in old Dhaka. He had just come from his village home in Manikganj's Shibaloy upazila.

“I took a bus at Gabtoli and the moment it stopped near a signal at Khejurbagan intersection, two hijras got on it,” he said.

Sometime later, the bus started to move again. Then, one of the hijras went to him and asked for some money.

As he refused, the hijra sat on his lap and kept on asking for the money, creating a moment of laughter among the other passengers.

It, however, embarrassed the young cricketer. So, he pushed off the hijra right away.

Furious, both the hijras started to slap and kick Sujan. At one point, they dragged him by his collars and pushed him off the moving bus. No one on the bus came to his rescue, he alleged.

As he was trying to get back to his feet, another bus knocked him down and went over his right leg. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital by some locals.

“I don't know whether I will ever be able to play cricket again,” he wept at the hospital.

Sujan had been training at a cricket academy in Dhanmondi since he came to the capital over a year ago, said his mother Rina Begum.

She said her poor family was struggling to meet their daily needs but dreamt that Sujan would be a professional cricketer one day.

“They have almost destroyed our dream. We want justice,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Sujan lives with a relative in old Dhaka. He did his Higher Secondary Certificate from Kabi Nazrul Government College and was preparing to get admitted to a good college or university, said his family members.

Police said they picked up two hijras -- Saju, 23, and Kabir, 22 -- as suspects and produced them before a Dhaka court yesterday.

They sought a three-day remand for each of the duo in a case filed on Monday night with Tejgaon Police Station over the incident.

The court, however, ordered investigators to quiz the accused at the jail gate for a day, said court sources.

Sub-inspector Azahar Ali of Tejgaon Police Station, also the investigation officer of the case, said locals picked up the hijras from Khamarbari area after the incident and handed them over to police.

Quoting the accused, the police official said although the hijras scuffled with Sujan, they did not push him out of the bus.