TURA, July 11 - A timber smuggler from Assam was kidnapped last night near Betasing village in South West Garo Hills when he had gone there with a few men to collect timber.
The incident happened at about 9 pm yesterday when the group was attacked by a gang of four men. The trader Abdul Kader was kidnapped by the gang. His partner, however, lost his life after being hit by the vehicle in which they had come.
According to police, the kidnapped man was a timber smuggler and had gone to the village at late night yesterday allegedly to collect illegal timber from Betasing, along with a group of three-four people. While they were loading the timber, a group of four armed men stopped them and took Kader hostage. The rest of the group fled in fear of being kidnapped.
The driver of the vehicle ran to the pick-up truck and began to flee the scene. In the chaos he hit the business partner of Kader. He did not stop but immediately drove to the nearest CRPF camp. �When we came to know of the incident a police team was dispatched. We found the body of the partner at the spot where he was hit�, said SP of South West Garo Hills, Aditya Goenka.
A search to rescue the kidnapped Kader is on. Kader is a resident of Teldhala near Mankachar in Assam and is a known timber smuggler.
