HÀ NỘI — Three Chinese men suspected of killing a taxi driver and stealing his car have been arrested in the border province of Sơn La, local police said on Tuesday.

According to the police, a taxi driver named Nguyễn Hùng Mạnh was reported missing by his company on August 9. The company last recorded him picking passengers at the Hữu Nghị border gate with China in Lạng Sơn Province and was en route to the capital Hà Nội.

Tracking the car, the company found that it was instead heading towards Sơn La.

A police investigation found that the three passengers of Chinese nationality allegedly killed the 50-year-old driver when they were passing through the northern province of Bắc Giang.

It is alleged the trio then drove the car some 100km away to the Trung Hà Bridge in Phú Thọ Province were Mạnh’s body was thrown into the Đà River, a tributary of the Hồng (Red) River.

They kept driving and reached Sơn La’s Phù Yên District where the car was abandoned. The three men then rented a boat to go to Mộc Châu District.

Sơn La police managed to intercepted the suspects.

The three admitted killing the driver to steal the car and initially planned to drive it to Myanmar. However, they then changed their mind and abandoned the car on their way to escape.

On the morning of August 12, police found the body of Mạnh near Thanh Trì Bridge in Hà Nội. The currents had washed his corpse all the way from Đà River to Red River area.

The trio were arrested on charges of murder and robbery. — VNS