Van, driver recovered

From our Correspondent

DIMORIA, Dec 2: The Byrnihat police of Meghalaya today recovered the van and its driver from a difficult terrains  in Meghalaya today. The Meximo Van (AS-01FC 3105) had been hired by a five-member gang at Rs 1,000 from Jorabat  auto stand in November 29, and then lifted it along with its driver.

The owner of the vehicle, Kamal Rongpi, received a call from a mobile (09863278261) on December 1 demanding Rs 5 lakh for the van and the driver, Sambhu Chetri. Rongpi made no delay to lodge an FIR at Sopur police station that sent the matter to all the police stations in either side of the inter-state border.

In the wee hours today, Byrnihat police spotted the driver in a difficult terrain between Thuangbari and Kachubari along the Assam-Meghalaya border. The miscreants, however, fled the scene with the flash of the police vehicle dazzling. The driver told the police that the five youths, who had taken him, were armed with weapons, and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh.

At 2 pm today, the Byrnihat police recovered the van from Upar Bagan Dehal, 10 km away from Byrnihat police station located along the inter-State border. The Byrnihat police handed over the van and the driver to Sopur police.

Sources in Meghalaya Police said that the GNLF activities have been on the rise along the Assam-Meghalaya border of late. They suspect GNLF hand in the lifting of the van.

Meanwhile, a Sopur police station official, Ratneswar Das, said investigation is on.