6 nabbed with looted truck, Nawada DTO under scanner

PATNA: The role of officials at Nawada district transport office (DTO) have come under scanner after police arrested six members of an interstate gang and recovered a looted truck. The fake documents of the truck were issued from Nawada DTO, Paliganj DSP Manoj Kumar Pandey said. The truck’s registration number was changed to BR-27G-1652 and its documents were issued from DTO office in Nawada.
Police said the truck bearing registration number UP-DT70-2414 was looted from Paliganj police station area on November 6 last year and was recovered from Amrapali Colliery at Tandwa in Chatra (Jharkhand) on January 30.They said it was loaded with 464 sacks of high quality maize seeds worth around Rs46 lakh. The seeds were also recovered from a nearby godown. The truck was being used for transporting coal and it was on way to Patna City from Hyderabad.
The arrested criminals were identified as Amar Pratap Singh, Kundan Singh, Chandrakant Thakur alias Pappu Thakur, Ashok Mahto, Shankar Kumar and Vinod Kumar. Chandrakant was earlier a member of TPC, a Maoist organization, and had been to jail in 2008 from Khalari in Ranchi for demanding levy. Two country-made pistols, four live cartridges, a car and a bike were also recovered from their possession.
Paliganj police station SHO Arun Kumar Singh said it’s not possible to get fake vehicle documents issued from DTO office without the officials’ connivance. “When checked online through government website, the registration number of Bihar with a new owner name is getting displayed,” he said. “The old chassis and engine serial numbers of the looted truck were changed and new serial numbers were embossed on it before getting the documents issued,” the SHO said.
He said the serial number of the battery installed in the truck was of that purchased by the original owner.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said the trucks looted in Bihar were being sold in West Bengal, Jharkhand and other north eastern states. “The gang is very big and they are involved in several truck loot cases in Patna and other district in Bihar,” he said, adding Amar Pratap was the gang leader.
Police also said the gang of around 70 members is active in Nalanda, Nawada, Jehanabad, Arwal and Aurangabad areas.