By Apekshita Sonowal

Among the 19 road construction workers of Assam who went missing since July 5, five of them have been recovered in a decomposed state in a dense forest, according to a senior district official on Friday, July 29.

The five bodies have been rescued in the dense forest between Huri and Tapa in the last week, Kurung Kumey deputy commissioner Nighee Bengia said.

He further said that the bodies were found in the same state but in different locations and on different dates. One on July 25, three on July 26 and one on July 28. Earlier, one Hikmat Ali was found dead in Furak River, the cause of the death being drowned in the river which rose the number of deaths to a total of six labourers, he added.

It has also been reported that the five decomposed bodies could not be brought back.

“Due to many reasons all the decomposed dead bodies could not be retrieved. Only photos and videos have been taken by the search and rescue operation team which can’t be shared. IAF chopper, which joined the rescue team on July 23, 2022, suspended the operation due to inclement weather and the IAF chopper is still waiting for good weather,” Bengia stated.

The 19 labourers from Assam were missing from a road construction site in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kurung Kumey district for around two weeks. The labourers had allegedly fled from the labour camps of the remote road construction site of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Damin circle, 200 kms from the district headquarters of Koloriang on the Indo-China border, on July 5 after they were denied for leave during Eid al Adha. They then set out for their homes on foot in two groups of eight and 11 and have been missing since then.

According to police sources, the missing report was filed on July 13 at the local police station.

So far ten labourers were rescued in disoriented condition and are recuperating in health facilities, Bengia said.

“The district commissioner said that he has directed the police, SDRF and local teams to continue the search operation till the remaining three missing labourers are found dead or alive.

The IAF chopper, which undertook a search operation on July 23, suspended it due to inclement weather and is waiting for good weather to resume.

The police said according to the rescued labourers the bodies were that of Forizul Haque, Moijal Haque, Sohar Ali and Abul Hussain. The fifth body is yet to be identified. 

The DC also inspected the 5 rescued labourers at the District Hospital Koloriang and inquired about their health status. according to reports, The rescued labourers are Khairul Islam (26), Majidul Ali (30), Monohar Hussain (18), Inamul Hussain (18), Jainal Ali (45), Hamidul Hussain, Abdul Amin, Ibrahim Ali, Kholebuddin Shiek (27) and Shamidul Sheik (19), he added.

(Source - PTI)