TURA: Garo Hills police have recovered a Mahindra pik-up mini truck which was stolen by a criminal gang who murdered its driver and dumped the body on the Kherapara-Dalu road, a month ago.
The white Mahindra vehicle was seized on Wednesday from a car repair garage in Kalapani village of Assam’s Mankachar border town.
To avoid detection, in the light of the arrest of several gang members by Garo Hills police on June 21st, the criminals had tried to thoroughly modify the vehicle by changing the number plate, design of the carriage and vehicle front. They were in the process of changing the main chassis number when police teams moved in and seized the vehicle.
The owner of the garage, identified as Alauddin Sheikh, was arrested.
Two prime suspects, Ahmed Hussain and Golam Mostafa, who had brought the vehicle into the garage to tamper with its identity managed to escape before police reached the spot.
This is probably the first time in recent times that a stolen vehicle, particularly a Mahindra pik up truck, has been successfully recovered in the region.
The vehicle was stolen by an inter-state gang of thieves who are believed to have given it to a criminal gang for use in abduction and murder.
The vehicle had been taken on hire towards Dalu by unidentified men during the first week of June. After murdering the driver the criminals stole the vehicle.
Though police recovered the body of the driver from Rangdapara forest, on the Tura-Kherapara-Dalu road, the case went cold due to lack of information.
It was following the abduction of an Assam based trader, a week later, missing from Tura’s Nazing bazaar weekly market that the trail was once again picked up by investigators. They managed to arrest seven criminals from different parts of Garo Hills who had committed murder of both the driver and the trader.
Two of the gang members hailed from Dakopgre locality of Tura town.
Following their confession, police recovered the body of the trader from a shallow grave from Allotgre area on the outskirts of Tura town.
While those behind the brutal murders were arrested by Garo Hills police, the gang involved in stealing the vehicle remained out of reach for close to a month until Wednesday’s breakthrough. Police now have in their hands the identity of those involved in the car lifting racket. Garo Hills, like the rest of the region, has been plagued with vehicle theft for many years. Bolero SUVs and pik up mini trucks as well as motorcycles have been the prime target of the gangs behind this racket.