Arunachal: Delay in wages pushed missing Assam labourers to flee

Mystery shrouds the whereabouts of at least 19 workers from Assam who have gone missing since July 5 from Arunachal’s Kurung Kumey district.

The workers who were brought to the construction site at Huri village in Kurung Kamey by 2 sub-contractors on June 6, left the camp on the night of July 5.

Speaking exclusively to Northeast Live, Kurung KUmey SP Abhimanyu Poswal said a delay in payment of wages by the sub-contractors prompted the labourers to flee.

Even then the labourers wanted to celebrate Eid and had wanted to come home.

The SP informed that, a team has been sent to Huri village to ascertain the whereabouts of the missing persons. Meanwhile, one body has recovered from Damin. But the identity is not yet confirmed.

As per reports, the labourers were engaged by the BRO in road construction in Huri under Damin circle which is located about 90 km from the Indo-China border.

However, all workers reportedly ran off from the project site on July 5 after being denied leaves by the contractor Bengia Bado. While the contractor had filed a police report, there has been no trace of the workers so far.

It may also be mentioned here that authorities recovered a body from the Furak river yesterday. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the body is of one of the missing workers.

Meanwhile, Northeast Live spoke to Kurung Kumey DC Nighee Bengia who informed that the workers fled from the worksite on July 5, but the case was registered on July 13. He said although the investigation is on, there has still not been any trace of the workers. It is suspected that the workers might have fled into the dense forests.

Responding to the recovery of the body, the DC said a police team has left for the site to probe the case. He stated that the identity of the body cannot be confirmed as of now, adding that things will only be clear once the police team returns.

Meanwhile, Northeast Live has accessed the details of the missing workers. They have been identified as Khairul Islam, Moijul Haq of Barpeta, Sonar Uddin of Kamrup, Jaynal Ali, Rustam Ali and Hikmati Ali of Baksa. Others have been identified as Swahidul Islam, Amidul Haq, Ibrahim Ali, Abdul Amin, and Nurul Islam.