By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Many cases of vehicle stealing and murder have been reported in the past few months from the Guwahati Shillong highway that connects Shillong to Guwahati and other parts of the country.
A recent criminal activity which took place in the highway was reported earlier this month when three car lifters from Assam killed a driver on the highway and later fled with the vehicle.
According to Guwahati Police, the three hired the vehicle to travel to Meghalaya on November 14, but they killed the driver on the way and ran away with the vehicle. The Meghalaya Police found the body of the driver from Nongpoh area in Meghalaya on November 16.
Speaking on the issue, Ri Bhoi Superintendent of police Claudia Lyngwa said that usually most of the vehicles are hired in Assam and many times car lifters act as a couple and it becomes very difficult for drivers to suspect any one.
“The checking has to be done from Assam side as these vehicles get their passengers in Assam,” she said.
Reacting to a query, Claudia Lyngwa said that she has continuously asked the Assam police to ask their drivers to call in their office in every half or one hour to inform the office about the exact location of the vehicle.
“They can have a log book where every driver will call in after every half an hour to inform the office about his whereabouts and this would also be helpful for their security.
The police official said that they have two units, one covering the area between Nongpoh and Byrnihat and one covering the stretch between Nongpoh to Umiam.
These two units, while keeping a tab on the traffic flow also get alerted when there is any report of vehicle theft.
While giving details, she informed that on Saturday, Assam police informed that a green bolero was stolen from Guwahati and immediately teams were put on high alert where every green bolero that was plying in their jurisdiction irrespective of the vehicle number was checked.
It may be mentioned that Guwahati-Shillong highway is one of the busiest highway in the region and hundreds of vehicle including trucks and small cars ply in the road on daily basis.