SHILLONG, Aug 16: A man was arrested in West Jaintia Hills district on Monday for allegedly killing a truck driver and decamping with his vehicle loaded with 500 quintals of rice meant for distribution among PDS beneficiaries, police said.
The arrested man and his accomplice killed the driver, who hailed from Assam, while he was sleeping inside the vehicle parked outside a Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown in Ummulong and fled with the truckload of Public Distribution System (PDS) rice, Superintendent of Police Bikram D Marak told PTI.
The accused persons, who had headed towards Silchar, were located with the truck on a weighbridge. One of them was nabbed while the other managed to escape, he said. After preliminary interrogation, the arrested man led the police to Riatturiem, where the driver’s body was recovered from a gorge, the SP said.
The body has been sent for post-mortem examination and the cause of death is yet to be ascertained, he said.
The arrested man is a habitual offender and he was earlier nabbed in 2016 for attempting to loot a goods truck, the officer said, adding that a manhunt has been launched to nab his accomplice. (PTI)
