Wardha police recover stolen dry fruits worth Rs 30 lakh

NAGPUR: Talegaon police of Wardha district recovered dry fruits worth more than Rs30 lakh after unearthing a fake accident set-up by the truck driver this week. Apart from the driver Jameer Ahmad, police arrested five other persons, including three from Kamptee.
It’s learnt that businesspersons from the city had placed an order of around 18 tonnes of dry fruit from New Mumbai.The consignment had left New Mumbai on November 10.
On November 14, truck driver Ahmad told one of the consignees that the truck met with an accident near Talegaon and that villagers from the adjoining hamlets fled with substantial share of the dry fruit consignments.
The consignees approached Talegaon police after sensing foul play as the driver did not even have a scratch on his body, though the truck had rolled down a slope on the roadside. Talegaon police kick-started a probe under the supervision of inspector general Chiranjeev Prasad and police superintendent Prashant Holkar, after registering an offence against Ahmad.
Wardha sub-divisional police officer Piyush Jagtap said the accident was apparently concocted by the driver to cover up his misdeed. “Following his arrest and subsequent interrogation, we learnt that he had disposed of nearly 100 sacks of dry fruits in Nanded with the help of his accomplices — three of whom were from Nagpur. On November 16, Wardha police recovered the stolen dry fruits from Nanded,’ said Jagtap.
Police also visited the adjoining villages close to the spot, making appeals to return the sacks of dry fruits which were stolen from the truck, warning the villagers of strict action. “Most of them returned the sacks but some had to be recovered by us during searches in the village,” said Jagtap.
He added that the police were hopeful of more recoveries once one of the main accused in the case is apprehended.