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At least seven of the 19 labourers from Assam who fled a road construction site in remote Arunachal Pradesh after they were denied leave to go home for Eid have been found.
The seven men were found in a forest near Huri village in Damin of Kurung Kumey district on Friday night.
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“Their health conditions are not good, and medical assistance is being provided. Their families have been informed. The search is on for the other 12 labourers,” Deputy commissioner Nighee Bengia said.
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Fled construction site to go home for Eid
They had been missing since July 5, from the project site in Damin circle, about 200 km from Koloriang, the district headquarters after they were allegedly denied leaves.
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There were 30 labourers employed by sub-contractors of Bengia Bado, a contractor of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
The labourers, who are from Assam, had fled the remote area in two-three groups in an attempt to reach their homes on foot through jungles.
It is believed that they lost their way and are stranded in the jungle.
Though the labourers had gone missing on July 5, it was reported to the authorities only last week.
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No dead body found yet
Earlier, there were reports that the body of one of the missing labourers was found in a river. Still, after the circle officer of Koloriang who visited Damin to take stock of the situation found no such body, he took back his statement.
“An official team, composed of police and civil officials, went to the area two days ago. The area is an extremely remote and dense forest,” Bengia said.
While seven of the missing have been found, the search for the remaining twelve continues.
IAF joins search operation
On Saturday, the Arunachal Pradesh Police said that an Indian Air Force chopper has been engaged in the search and rescue operations for the remaining.
“The SDRF personnel are continuing their search operation while the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) would soon join the search operation to locate the missing workers,” the DC told IANS.
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Meanwhile, Congress’ Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, has urged Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to deploy the Army to locate the missing men.
“There is no clarity on when; why and how they went missing. As per the Kurung Kumey district administration, it heard about their plight on July 13. The district administration had conducted search operations but the team couldn’t find them since the area is inhospitable, full of deep gorges, steep hills, and a river. Now, the families of those missing labourers are waiting for their safe returns to their homes,” he said in a letter.
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