Arunachal Pradesh: 1 dead, 18 missing along Indo-China border

All of the 19 victims of the incident were missing since July 5 while they were working on a road project. All of them have been ascertained to be from Assam.

Kurung Kumey (Arunachal Pradesh): One labourer was reported dead and 18 others went missing near the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh's Kurung Kumey district. All the 19 labourers who were engaged in road construction here were missing for the last 14 days since July 5 from the project site.

Bengia Nighee, Deputy Commissioner of Kurung Kumey district said that the body of one labourer was found in the Furak river under Damin circle on Monday. "A police team and the Circle officer of Damin have moved towards the site today morning. The labourers were engaged in a road construction work at Huri area under Damin circle," Bengia Nighee said.

"Most of the missing labourers are from the Muslim community and they might have left the site on July 5 to celebrate Eid in their locality," Nighee said. The Deputy Commissioner of Kurung Kumey district further said that they have received the information about the missing labourers from the contractor of the road project. He also said that an inquiry has been initiated in the matter.

A source from the Border Roads Organization (BRO) also confirmed that a group of labours who were engaged in Project Arona in east Arunachal's remote, left the workplace to participate in Eid. However, after leaving the workplace, they were missing.

The missing labours have been ascertained to be from the lower Assam districts, all of whom were working under a contractor of BRO for a long time. The missing labours are have been identified as Abdul Amin, Wajed Ali (Bongaigaon), Nurul Islam ((Abhoyapuri), Shamjul Shah, Kol Pudin, Ainul Haque, Farijul Haque, Manowar Ali, Majidul Ali (Dhubri), Joynal Ali, Rustam Ali, Hikmat Ali (Baska), Moijul Haque, Khairul Islam, Shahidul Islam, Amidul Haque, Ibrahil Ali ( Barpeta).

After the death of many wage labourers in the incident of the Manipur railway project, there was huge resentment among the labours about their safety in workplaces in the remote northeastern states. But no govt initiative has been made to find out the causes of such disasters.

However, the BRO sources have revealed the missing of 19 wage labourers in Arunachal Pradesh, though no formal communication has been made by the authorities connected to the incident. (With Agency inputs)