Malayali truck driver stabbed to death by gang of highway robbers

NEDUMBASSERY: A Malayali truck driver was stabbed to death by a gang of highway robbers for refusing to give them money. The deceased has been identified as Nedumbassery Mekkadu native Eliyas (42), an employee of Namakkal Transport Company in Chennai.

The incident took place near the Saravana Bhavan Hotel on the Chennai-Krishnagiri road at around 4 am on Sunday. It is reported that the Krishnagiri police have taken two members of the gang into custody. It is reported that a three-member group is behind the murder. Krishnagiri has witnessed a series of highway robberies in recent times. Eliyas joined the job a month ago.

The tragic incident happened while Eliyas was returning to the company after unloading the goods in Kochi. According to sources, he was getting back into the truck after drinking tea from a roadside shop when the robbers reached the spot and demanded money. As he refused to give them money, the robbers attacked him and stabbed him with a knife. It was the security employee of a nearby establishment who saw Eliyas lying in a pool of blood on the road an hour after the incident. After receiving information, the police reached the spot and rushed Eliyas to Krishnagiri Medical College. However, Eliyas soon succumbed to his injury.

Eliyas, who had been living in Kothamangalam for several years, shifted to his family home in Mekkadu after joining the new company. The body was brought home yesterday after post-mortem. The funeral will take place at 11 am on Tuesday at St. Mary's Jacobite Church Cemetery, Mekkadu.