Agartala, Aug 19 (IANS): A co-driver of a Bangladeshi truck, carrying rice from Ashuganj port of that country to Tripura, has gone missing here, police said Tuesday.

"Mohammad Soel Mia, 25, was missing since Monday afternoon. He was a co-driver of a Bangladeshi truck which carried rice from Ashuganj port to Tripura. Soel left immediately after his truck reached the FCI (Food Corporation of India) godowns at Nandannagar," police inspector Subrata Chakraborty told IANS.

He said that the security forces along with state police have launched a massive search operation to locate the Bangladeshi youth.

For the first time, 5,000 tonnes of rice in small ships from Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh reached Ashuganj river port in (eastern) Bangladesh via Kolkata port Aug 5. From Ashuganj port, 40 km from Agartala, Bangladeshi trucks have been carrying the rice since Aug 7 to FCI warehouses in Nandannagar near here.

A Bangladeshi truck met with an accident here Aug 11. The driver was injured and admitted to the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital here. Subsequently he was released.

"For the first time, Bangladeshi trucks transported rice from Ashuganj port in Bangladesh directly to the FCI warehouse at Nandannagar," FCI general manager Bidol Tayeng told IANS.

The usual practice was to shift contents from Bangladeshi trucks to Indian trucks just at the check post or along the border.