Nearly 11 months after a rented JCB (Bulldozer) was allegedly stolen, police  have recovered the machine from Dharmanagar, while , instead of bringing relief, the recovery has sparked a fresh controversy, with the original owner and the contractor who had hired the machine making rival claims over its ownership.

Police sources said that the recovered JCB is currently in the custody of Dharmanagar Police and Abdul Kuddus, a resident of Kalacherra village in Dharmanagar under North Tripura district and the claimant of the excavator, said he had purchased the JCM in 2023 for his construction works. On January 2nd, 2025, he rented it to contractor Dipan Nath through a verbal agreement. According to Kuddus, the contractor regularly paid the finance installments for seven to eight months while using the machine for work at different locations across Tripura.

However, around eight to ten months after it was rented out, he was informed that the JCB had been stolen from Sabroom under South Tripura district. Acting on the information, the contractor’s manager Parthajit Chakraborty lodged a General Diary (GD) entry at Sabroom police station on October 28, 2025. Following continuous communication with the police, a specific case was registered on June 2, 2026 at Manu Bazar police station of South Tripura district under Section 303(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Case No. 7/2026.

As the police failed to trace the excavator, they eventually submitted a final report before the court. Although Kuddus had almost given up hope, he received a tip-off on September 17 and, with the assistance of Dharmanagar Police, recovered the JCB from South Hurua in Dharmanagar.

Kuddus alleged that after the recovery, he found that the original registration number of the excavator had been replaced with a Nagaland registration number. He claimed that while the chassis and engine numbers do not match the present registration number, they perfectly correspond with the original Tripura registration documents in his possession.

He further stated that he is facing legal action from the finance company in the Gauhati High Court due to unpaid monthly EMIs of Rs 75,500. With around ten installments still pending, he said he is under severe financial distress and appealed for justice.

While, contractor Dipan Nath has presented a completely different version of the events.

Responding to Kuddus' allegations, Nath claimed that they had entered into a verbal agreement under which he paid Kuddus a total of Rs 18 lakh—Rs 11 lakh through online transactions and Rs 7 lakh in cash. According to Nath, it had been agreed that ownership of the JCB would be transferred to him. In accordance with that understanding, the excavator was re-registered in the name of his firm with a new Nagaland registration number.

He further claimed that the JCB was stolen only after the re-registration and that it was his manager who first reported the theft to the police. Nath also said he continued paying the EMIs until February 2026 despite the vehicle being stolen, before eventually discontinuing the payments.

Rejecting the allegations against him, Nath said he was being falsely implicated as part of a conspiracy and maintained that a fair and impartial investigation would reveal the truth.

When contacted regarding the recovery of the JCB and the rival ownership claims, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dharmanagar police station, Mina Debbarma, said the excavator had been recovered and was currently under police custody.

Since the original theft case was registered at Manu Bazar police station in Sabroom subdivision, she said the concerned police station had already been informed. After completion of the necessary legal formalities, the excavator will be handed over to Manu Bazarr Police for further investigation.

Officials believe the ongoing investigation will determine the rightful ownership of the recovered JCB and unravel the mystery surrounding the case.