TURA: The body of a 25-year-old truck driver working with Food Corporation of India was found on NH-31 near Dolonggre village in West Garo Hills on Thursday morning.
The body of the trucker, identified as Ram Nath Rai from Bihar’s Samastipur district, was found with the head smashed. The truck was parked off the main road, 14km from Jengjal outpost, police said. However, the man’s mobile phone and money were stolen.
The incident has alarmed other truck drivers who are now scared to ply on the Paikan-Tura Road on NH-31 at night.
Rai used to transport rice from Bongaigaon to the FCI godowns in Tura and Williamnagar. He was on his way back to Bongaigaon from Tura on the fateful night.
Rai had left Tura for Bongaigaon and his last location was Paikan where he had stopped with two other truckers for dinner. His brother said he spoke to Rai around 9 pm during which he reportedly said he was at Paikan and was to head towards Bongaigaon.
The police said they could not understand why Rai came back all the way from Paikan when he was going to Bongaigaon.
Police are still unsure whether he was shot in the head or a blunt object was used to smash his head. “We want to be completely sure about the nature of his death and are waiting for the postmortem report,” said district SP Mukesh K. Singh.
The helper, who is from Kathalbari village of Garobadha in South West Garo Hills district, is missing and is now a suspect in the case.
There are two highway patrol teams that keep vigil on the isolated stretch between Anogre-Dolonggre-Jengjal but only during the day after which the vehicles return to Tura.
