Truck driver Fattesingh Babulal Sharma from Agra and cleaner Rajan Singh Damar Singh Thakur from Kamtha village in Uttar Pradesh, who suffered several injuries when the dacoits thrashed them up with sticks, were discharged after being treated with first aid at the Talegaon Dhamdhere Civil Hospital.

In a complaint lodged with the Shikrapur police, Sharma has stated that the dacoits escaped with his truck along with the medicines and Rs 20,000 in cash.

The stolen truck was later found abandoned at Karade Ghat near Nhavre Phata, about 55 kms from here on Pune-Ahmednagar Road. However, some boxes of medicines stored in it as well as the cash were missing, police said.

The truck, which belongs to the Nashik Phata based Sangali Indore Transport Company, had left Pune after being loaded with boxes containing medicines late last evening.

It had reached an isolated place near Khandala Matha, around 45 kms from Pune on the Pune-Ahmednagar highway, when another truck without a registration number plate collided with it.

Sharma stopped his truck to assess the damage when the dacoits travelling in the other truck attacked him and Thakur. The perpetrators thrashed up Sharma and Thakur before tying them up.

Later, some of the dacoits whisked away Sharma and Thakur in their truck while the other culprits followed in the other truck. The truck driver and cleaner were abandoned at an isolated spot Karegaon village, about 10 kms from Khandala Matha on the same road while the culprits escaped with both the trucks.

Sharma and Thakur lay on the highway for nearly an hour, till some drivers plying on the highway rescued them. Later, the duo approached the Shikrapur police and lodged a complaint.

Meanwhile, acting on the complaint, the Shikrapur police have launched a massive hunt to track down the culprits. Superintendent of Police Ashok Dhivre and Deputy Superintendent of Police N M Chavan are camping at Shikrapur to supervise the investigations.