Arunachal Pradesh police have arrested the owner of the mini-truck that fell into a deep gorge in Anjaw district earlier this month, killing 20 labourers. The arrest marks an important development in the case, which has raised concerns about illegal transportation and serious lapses in safety rules in remote border districts.
Officials said the accused, identified as Bhushan Kumar Yadav, 36, was arrested from Chapra in Bihar. Police said he had been absconding after the accident and was tracked down following sustained efforts by the investigation team. With his arrest, the number of people held in the case has increased to three. Earlier, police had taken two other persons into custody on charges related to negligence and human trafficking.
According to police, Yadav owned the vehicle that met with the accident on the Hayuliang–Chaglagam road on the night of December 8. The mini-truck was carrying labourers from Assam’s Tinsukia district to a remote road construction point. The vehicle allegedly veered off the narrow mountain road and plunged into a steep gorge near Lailiang, around 40 kilometres from Hayuliang sub-division headquarters. 
Police officials said the accused has been booked for criminal negligence and for violating motor vehicle laws. Carrying labourers in a goods vehicle is prohibited, and investigators believe this violation contributed directly to the scale of the tragedy.
The incident came to light two days after the crash. The lone survivor, identified as Budheswar Deep, reportedly trekked through dense forest and rough mountain terrain to reach a Border Roads Task Force labour camp. Authorities said his statement helped launch a joint search and rescue operation immediately.
The rescue effort that followed involved multiple agencies. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force, the Indian Army, the Border Roads Task Force, local police, and the district administration worked for four days under difficult weather and terrain conditions. Officials recovered 20 bodies and evacuated the lone survivor from the accident site.
Anjaw Deputy Commissioner Millo Kojin confirmed that the operation was formally closed at around 10 am on December 15. Earlier speculation suggested that more labourers may have been on board, but later verification established that 21 individuals, including the driver, were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
