Berhampur: A pickup van driver was arrested for allegedly enacting a drama as part of a conspiracy and claiming that the vehicle had been stolen by unknown miscreants in Odisha’s Ganjam district, sources said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Kanhu Kumar Choudhury, was arrested as his statement raised suspicion and police cracked the plot hatched by him. They also recovered the vehicle hidden in a forest near Khallikote.
Choudhury had taken the vehicle owned by Chandan Kumar from Bhubaneswar with some consignment to Berhampur on September 28. Subsequently, he informed the vehicle owner that he had got an order from Berhampur and will be returning to Bhubaneswar on September 30.
However, on September 30 morning the accused called Kumar, who hails from Bihar, and told him that some unidentified miscreants stopped the vehicle near Khallikote, thrashed him and drove away with the vehicle towards Berhampur. He further claimed that the miscreants also took away his driving licence and phone.
Based on the claims made by the driver, the owner of the vehicle lodged a complaint with the police at Khallikote.
During the course of investigation, the statement of the driver gave rise to suspicion and police thoroughly interrogated him. After being grilled by the police, the accused confessed to having hidden the vehicle himself. He was arrested and the vehicle recovered from the Narayani forest, sources said.
