Violence at Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project site due to superstition

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: A tense and violent situation prevailed on Thursday at the site of the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (SLHP) at Gerukamukh in the Dhemaji district.

During the violence, three workers were physically assaulted and a container of the SLHP was burnt to ashes. The incident took place around 7 am at the 7th block of the project site and the injured workers were later shifted to the Lakhimpur Medical College and Hospital (LMCH) for advanced treatment after they had been given first aid at Gerukamukh.

As per the report, some workers of the project have been falling ill for a couple of months after going back to their rooms from their workplaces in the evening. A few of them reportedly breathed their last some days ago when they were fast asleep. Some workers started believing that such things were happening in the project site due to the impact of an evil spirit handled by unscrupulous workers of the project.

Influenced by such superstitious beliefs, some workers of the project secretly continued a search operation to catch the unscrupulous people amid their day-to-day works. On Thursday, three workers of a community were seen conducting some alleged 'magical activities' following some odd rituals at the 7th block of the project. The workers who saw them instantly informed the matter to their co-workers who thronged the spot and started to beat the three workers mercilessly. However, the victims somehow managed to escape from the furious mob which then set a container ablaze while searching for them. As soon as the violent situation prevailed, jawans of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Assam Police and Arunachal Pradesh Police personnel arrived at the spot. An Additional SP of the Dhemaji district also arrived at the spot and managed to bring the situation under control.

Vipin Gupta, the Executive Director of NHPC (SLHP), when contacted regarding the incident, said, "The situation is under control at present. The injured workers have already been shifted to LMCH for advanced treatment. The CISF jawans and police personnel are vigilant to check any untoward incident in the project area following the riot."

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