2 Weeks On, 19 Labourers Still Missing Near China Border In Arunachal

Nineteen construction workers from Assam have been missing for over two weeks in Arunachal Pradesh, close to India-China border.

Security forces, including the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Air Force (IAF), have been engaged to rescue the labourers.

The workers went missing near the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh's Kurung Kumey district. The whereabouts of the 19 workers remain unknown despite a search operation being launched last Monday.

An NDRF team has been dispatched while the local administration has also sought the help of the IAF who have deployed helicopters to find those missing.

The 19 missing, all migrant labourers from Assam, were engaged in road construction projects of Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

According to a missing complaint filed by the contractor under whom these 19 migrant labourers were working, the labourers had allegedly fled the labour camps at the road construction site of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in Damin circle on July 5 after the contractor reportedly denied them leave to go back to their homes in Assam to celebrate Eid al-Adha last week.

The missing report was filed at the local police station on July 13, police sources said.

"What we can confirm is that 19 construction workers who fled the construction site, according to the missing report filed last week, are still untraced. There is a social media post doing rounds about a dead body seen in the river area and we have sent out senior officials and a police party to verify this information. The area is extremely remote with hilly terrains and dense jungles, our search operations are on. The under-construction road is a border road that would lead to the remote border villages from Damin circle headquarters and is a very crucial strategic road," Deputy Commissioner of Kurung Kumey district Nighee Bengia had told NDTV over the telephone from district headquarters Kolorian last week.

Damin is about 130 km from Koloriang and the construction site is another 15 km from Damin, the Deputy Commissioner further added.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is about 80 km from Damin, the last administrative circle in that area, officials said.

Police say they have registered another case against the sub-contractor from Assam's Lakhimpur who allegedly brought those migrant labourers from Assam.

It is assumed that the 19 labourers are from the border area of Kokrajhar and Dhubri of Assam, sources added.