Driver's death triggers truckers to halt transport
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 12 2026: The death of a stranded driver along NH-37 at Lalpani has enraged truckers with the Silchar Drivers' Union poised to halt transport to Manipur until the bereaved family is given adequate compensation.

The driver, identified as Nageena Kumar Mahato (39), a resident of Narayanpur, Vaishali district, Bihar, was found dead inside a goods truck this morning at the Lalpani, under Jirighat police station.

The driver had been stranded along the highway awaiting security convoys to enter Manipur for several days.

Driver's death triggers truckers to halt transport

While the exact cause of the death has not been ascertained pending a postmortem, the drivers community have blamed the Government for failing to make adequate arrangements to ensure movement of stranded vehicles.

The Silchar Drivers' Union and Manipur's Transporters' and Drivers' Council (TDC) have condoled the demise of the driver, and put the blame for the death squarely on the Government.

Over 1,500 vehicles are stranded on the highway along the Jiribam-Assam border area.

Some of the drivers have spent over 20 days on the highway, and are still waiting for security convoys to move further to Manipur.

Representatives of the Silchar Drivers' Union said Nageena's life could have been saved had the Government arranged adequate security convoys to move the stranded vehicles to Imphal.

Earlier, the driver had complained to fellow drivers about his health.

If he had reached Imphal, he could have gotten the help and the medical care he needed, said the representatives.

The death of the stranded driver has exposed the failure of the Government and its lack of empathy towards the drivers.

Such incidents will only discourage drivers from plying the Manipur highways, said the representatives of the Silchar Drivers Union.

Asking if the Manipur Government, Assam Government or the Centre will take responsibility, the union's members said transport on the Manipur highway will be halted until the bereaved driver's family is given adequate compensation.

Until the family is compensated, no vehicle from Assam will enter Manipur, and no vehicle from Manipur will enter Assam, said the union members.

Expressing condolences, Transporters' and Drivers' Council president Hijam Ranjit too blamed the Government for the driver's death and said the council's resolution for trucks to move on the highway with or without any security convoy after Sunday still stands.

If no measure is taken up by the State Government to increase the number of security convoys and move the stranded vehicles in bulk by Sunday, the vehicles will start moving without or without security forces' escort from Monday, he said.

The vehicles will move in batches of 500 per day, he added.

Meanwhile, the Silchar Drivers' Union is expected to facilitate the transport of the remains of the driver to his native village in Bihar after postmortem.