Phuentshogling Dungkhag Court sentenced a 30 -year-old man to four years in prison for selling other’s properties without the consent of rightful owners. The judgment was passed on April 4.
He was convicted for selling his employer’s tripper truck and two excavator buckets to an Indian man for Nu 250,000 in July last year. As per the judgment, the convict committed the crime while he was sent to repair excavator buckets in Phuentshogling.
The convict also sold another tripper truck to the same Indian buyer in Toorsa for Nu 100,000 in August last year. He had requested the truck driver to let him stay inside the tripper since he did not have a place to stay. However, the convict drove the truck across the border and sold it there.
The judgement says while the convict was in Phuentshogling, he stayed in hotels without paying room charges. He was also ordered to pay over Nu 109,000 to the owners of eight hotels in Phuentshogling.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) charged the convict for forgery, criminal misappropriation, larceny by deception and theft of service.
Similarly, the 32-year-old Indian man, who received the stolen items, was sentenced to two months for failure to report the crime. He can, however, pay in lieu of his prison term. The OAG initially charged the man for possession of stolen property. It was later altered due to lack of concrete evidence.
The police recovered the trippers and excavator buckets and were handed over to its rightful owners while the investigation was underway.