September 19: Police have arrested a truck driver and a mastermind who planned a fake road accident to receive insurance amount of a truck loaded with beer. It was reported that a truck carrying beer from Gorkha Brewery of Nawalparasi to Kathmandu met with an accident in Icchyakamana of Chitwan about a week ago.

After almost ten days of investigation, police solved the mystery behind the accident of the truck with registration number Na 5 Kha 7297 that took place on September 10.

Under the influence of Ujjwal Kandel, 30, of Manahari Rural Municipality in Hetauda,  truck driver Santosh Khatri, 28, of Hetauda-11 agreed to fake the accident to get the insurance amount for the beer and the vehicle, investigation showed.

According to Dilip Raj Jha, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office (DPO), the truck which was loaded with 1,400 cartons of beer from Gorkha Brewery shifted 1,200 cartons in another truck at Geetanagar, Chitwan and the truck with 200 cartons headed for Kathmandu. The truck was made to fall from Narayani river at Jalabire and the nearby police post at Mugling was informed about the accident.

The truck carrying 1,200 cartons of beer went to Hetauda and hid in a house at Manakamana Road. The next day, the conspirators hid 537 cartons of beer in the house of Mani Lama and 426 in Buddha Lama’s house. Police seized the beer, whose market price is Rs 3.7 million, from  the two houses, said DSP Jha.

Jha informed that four people involved in the crime and 960 cartons of beer have been sent to DPO, Chitwan for further action.