SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur police on Sunday arrested three persons in connection with the brutal murder of a truck driver whose dismembered skeletal remains were found buried at a brick kiln near Lodapada village in Jamankira earlier this month.
Briefing the media, Sambapur SP Mukesh Bhamoo said on April 10, villagers of Lodapada spotted bones of a leg, still clad in trousers, protruding from a ditch at a local brick kiln. Subsequently, a local lodged a formal complaint with Jamankira police.
During the course of investigation, police identified the deceased as Jahinder Yadav (31), a truck driver of Laxmipur village in Bihar’s Jamui district. Bhamoo said Yadav’s murder was orchestrated by Muna Allam (26), a fellow truck driver of Bihar, with the help of Ganesh Jaiswal (48) of Bareipali in Sambalpur and Sangram Naik (43), owner of the brick factory where the body was buried.
Yadav went missing on March 5 when he was en route from Raipur to West Bengal with a consignment of pig iron. Investigators found that Allam came in contact with Yadav around six months back. In the night on March 5, he came to know that Yadav was headed to West Bengal. Allam conspired with Jaiswal and an unidentified truck helper to steal Yadav’s vehicle and take it to Naik’s brick kiln from where they would have disposed of the iron. The accused also promised to pay Rs 50,000 to Naik for using his property in the crime.
Allam along with Ganesh and the truck helper intercepted Yadav at Laxmidungri in Sambalpur. They drugged him by lacing his tea with sedatives. Once he lost consciousness, they took control of his truck and took it to the brick kiln. When Yadav gained his senses, the accused strangulated him to death. To eliminate evidence, they allegedly ran the truck over his body before burying him.
When Yadav became untraceable, owner of his truck Sanjiv Pandey of Chhattisgarh approached the police on April 7. Yadav’s truck - equipped with a GPS tracker - was traced to the mango yard of the brick factory owned by Naik.
The SP said police have seized Yadav’s truck, a car, motorcycle and five mobile phones believed to have been used in the crime. “While Jaiswal was nabbed from UP, Allam and Naik were arrested from Rourkela and Jamankira respectively. They will be brought on remand for questioning. Another accused is absconding and a manhunt has been launched to nab him,” he added.