One of the 19 workers from Assam who went missing after allegedly taking an unauthorized break from a border road building site in Arunachal Pradesh has been found dead, according to persons with knowledge of the situation.
According to Bengia Nighee, deputy commissioner of the Kurung Kumey district of Arunachal Pradesh, the other 18 workers are still missing. They were last seen on July 5 while working at a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) road construction site in the region that borders China’s Damin circle.
“The contractor working on the road construction brought the 19 labourers from Assam. We learned on July 13 that they had all fled the job site, which is around 150 kilometres from Koloriang, the district headquarters, as a result of communication breakdowns, said Bengia Nighee.
It is unclear why the workers departed the job site, although it has been theorised that their employer forbade them from travelling home to observe Eid-al-Adha on July 10. Despite this, they walked away from the project site unnoticed.
“We started search activities as soon as we learned about the missing labourers. They were not discovered, despite exploring the adjacent jungles and other ways. One of the labourers’ bodies was found in the Furak river on Monday, according to Nighee.
According to officials, the location where the laborer’s body was discovered is around 200 kilometres from the district’s administrative centre and 80–90 miles from the India–China border.
“The other 18 labourers have not yet been found, and we are unsure if they have made it to Assam or if they are still missing. The search for them will go on, Nighee said.
