This is an update to Awaaz Punjab's earlier coverage of the November 13 crash near Kaziranga, in which a passenger minibus collided head-on with a container truck on National Highway 715 at Rangajan, near the Hathikuli Tea Estate in the Kohora range of Assam's Golaghat district, killing 26 people. Investigators have now made their first arrest and reported a key mechanical finding.

Source: The Indian Express via NE Insider

Golaghat Senior Superintendent of Police Swapnaneel Deka told The Indian Express that the minibus's mandatory speed-limiting device had been removed "intentionally by the driver and the owner so that they can make more trips for financial gains", even though transport department records still listed the device as installed. According to Hindustan Times, the device was set to cap speed at 80 kmph — twice the 40 kmph limit on the Kaziranga stretch.

Assam Transport Minister Charan Boro, who visited the site on Saturday, gave a more cautious account, saying a device was fitted and that a technical examination would establish whether it worked. No official cause of the crash has been established yet.

Bokakhat police arrested the vehicle's owner, Anjir Ali, from Nagaon on Saturday night, and a court sent him to two days in police custody, Assamese portal NewzNow reported. The minibus driver, Abdul Mujid, 64, and his helper Subhash Das died in the crash; police are also examining why a driver aged over 60 was employed to run the passenger vehicle, NDTV reported.

The vehicle had a record of violations before the crash. An official of the Golaghat District Transport Office told PTI the minibus was a habitual overspeeding offender: it was fined Rs 4,000 in Jorhat on March 3 after being caught at 102 kmph, and had received multiple overspeeding challans in the Kaziranga area, several of them still unpaid. Investigators say the 26-to-27-seat vehicle was carrying about 41 people when it crashed.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the site on Saturday, ordered a detailed investigation and a specialised post-mortem examination of the driver, amid questions over whether the driver suffered a medical emergency at the wheel. Families of those killed are to receive Rs 9 lakh each — Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Rs 2 lakh from the State Disaster Management Authority and Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Teams from the National Highways Authority of India are examining the road itself. The NH-715 stretch is already slated for a rebuild: in October 2025 the Union Cabinet approved four-laning the 85.675 km Kalibor-Numaligarh section at Rs 6,957 crore, including a 34.45 km elevated corridor for animal crossings — but the work has not begun and a contractor is still awaited.