Missing Assam labourers: State Congress moves Rajnath Singh

Guwahati: Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia (Congress) and Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi moved Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with separate letters and requested him to ensure a search operation to rescue the 19 Assam workers who had gone missing from a construction site in the Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh. The labourers have been missing since July 13, 2022. The site is 90 km from the China border.

In his letter to the Defence Minister, Saikia said, "I would like to draw your attention to an incident reported from an ongoing project of the Border Roads Organization (BRO) in the district of Kurung Kumey in Arunachal Pradesh, near the Indo-China Border. Around 19 labourers working on the Border Roads Organization's (BRO) Sarli-Huri road construction project, about 90 km from the India-China border, remain "missing" from July 13, 2022. There is no mobile connectivity at Huri or Damin, leaving the families uncertain about what has happened to the 19. The youngest one among the 19 is approximately 16, as per relatives. Most of the labourers are from Assam and other states for the construction project in Arunachal Pradesh. Hailing from districts like Bongaigaon, Kamrup, Kokrajhar and Goalpara of Assam, these labourers were denied any leave from the construction site despite having severely dangerous and inhospitable working conditions. The Kurung Kumey district administration says that the route they took to was through the jungle; there is no road there. Because of this, the rescue operation initiated by Indian Air Force also faced difficulties. According to reports, the people at the camp were threatened and stopped from coming home. I request you to give the necessary direction to the authorities concerned to stimulate the rescue process with the help of the National Disaster Response Force and the local administration."In a similar letter, MP Gaurav Gogoi also urged the Defence Minister to order an Army-led search operation to rescue the missing labourers."

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