JHARSUGUDA: Police on Monday arrested a truck driver for allegedly stealing aluminium billets worth Rs 55 lakh as the consignment was on its way from Vedanta Aluminium to West Bengal.Accused Sachindra Ray (40) was arrested basing on a complaint filed by Rajesh Kumar Shukla, branch manager of a Jharsuguda-based travel agency. Police also seized 32 aluminium billets worth `55 lakh from the accused’s possession, at Dhulagarh Industrial Estate in the neighbouring state. Ray is from Kolaghat in Bengal.
The agency had sent a consignment of 21 tonne aluminium billets from Vedanta Aluminium, Jharsuguda to Century Extrusion Ltd at Kharagpur in a truck on July 17. When the consignment did not reach the destination by July 27, Shukla tried to call the two drivers but both had switched off their phones, prompting him to file an FIR.