A truck driver from Karimganj killed in Meghalaya; "1 held, matter under investigation," SP

At around 2:00 am in the morning (last night) the additional superintendent of Police of West Jaintia Hills – Bijay Chetri got a call informing him about an attack on a truck driver in Jowai. He immediately mobilised his troops to find that the truck driver is missing.

The truck was parked in front of the FCI FSD in Jowai and was loaded with rice. An FIR was lodged by a representative of Anup Trade Transport Pvt Limited. The complaint states that there were two miscreants driving in a hatchback car who attacked the truck driver and hijacked the truck. “We have recovered the truck and detained one individual so far. The matter is under investigation,” said Additional SP, Chetri.

When the Police personnel started searching for the missing driver, they saw bloodstains on the road. Tracking that, the team traced the driver lying dead in a gorge a few kilometres away from the spot where the truck was last spotted. “Prima facie, it looks like the driver has been beaten to death with a blunt object. However, the postmortem report is due, therefore, we cannot confirm the cause of death yet,” added the additional SP.

The driver has been identified as Alok Das, son of Dhirendra Das and resident of Patherkandi in the Karimganj district. “The family members of the deceased have been informed about the untoward incident and they are on their way to Meghalaya to identify and claim the dead body,” informed the additional SP.

The Police are suspecting that this “untoward” incident is not related to the violent display in other parts of the state. Instead, the investigating officers feel, this was an attempt to steal the truck loaded with rice. “We are preparing a detailed report of the untoward incident that occurred last night/early morning. The matter is under investigation and we are interrogating one suspect we have detained so far,” said Bikram D. Marak, Superintendent of Police, West Jaintia Hills.

Assam Police has already advised residents of Assam against travelling via Meghalaya, at least, till the curfew in certain parts are relaxed. After miscreants brandished weapons and hijacked a Police vehicle to later set it ablaze, the Meghalaya government suspended mobile internet, curfew was imposed in East Jaintia Hills.

The violence broke after Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, a founding member of the banned organisation, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) was killed in a Police mission. Cheristerfield Thangkhiew is a former militant who surrendered himself and started living life in the mainstream.

There are many residents in Assam who are stuck in Meghalaya and unable to find a safe escape. However, the attack on a truck loaded with essential commodities and the brutal murder of the driver exposes further loopholes in law and order in Meghalaya.