Robbers have started to target drivers of cargo trucks (headed towards Nepal) stranded on the Indian side of the Birgunj-Raxaul border point due to strikes in the Tarai. According to the drivers, armed groups have been robbing them off cash and mobile phones, besides looting batteries and diesel, among others, from the trucks.
Rabindra Pathak, one of the drivers stranded at Raxaul, said about 150 litres of diesel was stolen from his truck on Thursday night. He said he stepped out of the truck after he heard the sound of the fuel tank lock being broken. “But a person pointed a gun at me and took away the oil,” he complained. Pathak had arrived in Raxual nine days ago from India’s Kolkata port. Similarly, the thieves stole the battery of a truck operated by driver Jogindar Singh who had brought food items from New Delhi. “I came to know the battery was stolen after the truck did not start,” said Singh. Ajaya Ray, who arrived in Raxual 18 days ago, was beaten up after he confronted the robbers. “They took away my cash and mobile phone,” he said. His truck was loaded with machinery parts imported from India’s Gujarat.
