Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 8
THE body of an autorickshaw driver, who had gone missing on February 6, was discovered lying in an abandoned forest area in Khughovi village under Kuhoboto sub-division, Dimapur on Friday morning.
The deceased, Gulyu Ahmed, aged 27, was a resident of Burma Camp, Dimapur. Police sources said the body was discovered by the villagers of Khughovi at around 11.30 am on Friday. He is believed to have been strangulated. His family has refused to allow the police to conduct an autopsy, thus the district police can only speculate on the cause of his death.The autorickshaw, which he used to ply from Railway parking lot in the night, is also missing. It was learnt that another driver would ply the same vehicle, but during day. Police sources said they were yet to receive any report from the owner of the missing autorickshaw.
The Dimapur District Auto Drivers Union (DDADU), in a press statement, has, however, spelt the deceased’s name as Gulzan, while condemning the “murder.”
It claimed that the victim was kidnapped from the railway station by some unidentified persons on February 6.
The DDADU said he was killed after the miscreants had snatched his autorickshaw bearing registration number NL-07-7304.
“This is not the first incident that an autorickshaw driver has been killed. There have been numerous incidents last year, where auto drivers have been killed by unidentified persons for stealing their autos, but till date no one has been arrested and booked for murder,” read the statement issued by DDADU president Hokaito Zhimomi.
The DDADU urged the law enforcing agencies and the district administration to leave no stone unturned to arrest the culprits involved in the murder and book them under appropriate laws.
It also urged the auto drivers to register with the Union “to avail welfare benefits.”
