Gurgaon: A consignment of 500 bags of cloves worth around Rs 2 crore went missing while being transported from Maharashtra to Delhi after the truck carrying the spices was allegedly emptied in the city and the goods were shifted to another vehicle. The truck was later found abandoned near Bawal, while scattered cloves and bag labels at the suspected unloading site helped investigators piece together that the consignment was moved elsewhere, police said.The case came to light after an official of ABC Express Company approached the Sector 10 police station on Oct 14. The complaint stated that the company was transporting the consignment from Nhava Sheva in Maharashtra to Delhi when the driver was informed of the delivery address on Oct 11.However, the goods never reached their destination. Repeated attempts to contact the driver failed as both his mobile phones were switched off.A search led to the truck being found abandoned near Royal Paper Hotel, close to Bawal. Its GPS data showed that it had been in Sector 93 on the night of Oct 12. During an inspection of the area, police found scattered cloves and labels used on the bags, suggesting that the consignment had been unloaded and transferred to other trucks.Police registered a case at Sector 10 police station and launched an investigation. A Crime Branch Bilaspur team arrested three men near Pasco Fitting Centre in Rathwas on Friday.The accused were identified as Manan and Junaid, both residents of Nuh district, and Aziz, a resident of Barpeta district in Assam, police said.During questioning, the men allegedly told investigators that they had unloaded the cloves at an isolated location in the Sector 88-89 area and transferred them to two other trucks. Police said Manan owned one of the trucks used in the crime, while Junaid drove it. Aziz allegedly helped arrange the sale of the stolen consignment.“The accused allegedly planned to transport the cloves to Assam and sell them there. Police have recovered 20 tonnes and 900 kg of cloves, along with two trucks, from their possession. The recovered consignment is valued at approximately Rs 2 crore,” police spokesperson Sandeep Turan said.The three accused will be produced before a court, and police will seek their custody for further questioning. The investigation is ongoing.
