TURA: A boulder laden truck stranded on a highway in South West Garo Hills district sustained damage after it caught fire in what is suspected to be an arson attack early Tuesday morning.
The truck which was carrying stones had been stranded on the road near Malchapara in Batasing since Saturday when it suddenly caught fire at around 2 O’clock in the morning. Fire brigade from Ampati was able to put out the fire before further damage could take place.
Police are not ruling out the possibility of arson attack given that there has been much protest in the recent past by several groups in the region demanding a stop to the boulder trade citing the damage being made to the roads.
While most of the anger has been towards the convoy of trucks from Bhutan passing through the district with boulders for export to Bangladesh frequently, there are also a sizable number of operators from neighbouring Assam ferrying stones and boulders which are at most times illegally obtained from inside Garo Hills.
In the case of the burning truck, the owner is suspected to hail from the neighbouring town of Mankachar in Assam who was transporting his consignment to Mahendraganj border town in South West Garo Hills. The owner has, so far, failed to contact authorities in Garo Hills nor filed an FIR on the incident.