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Kokrajhar/Guwahati, Feb. 16: Armed goons abducted a young engineer of a private construction firm engaged by Power Grid Corporation of India from Betagaon in Baksa district of lower Assam last night.
The engineer, Chintala Paidi Raju, who hails from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, was abducted by four motorcycle-borne youths at gunpoint at 10.20pm from the firm’s piling site on the bank of Puthimari river under Goreswar police station.
Police said Raju, 28, son of Appa Rao, had joined his job in the area at BSC-C&C-JV, an Andhra Pradesh-based firm, a few days ago.
The firm, engaged by Power Grid Corporation to construct power transmission towers between Balipara and Bongaigaon, had started work yesterday.
The police said they were yet to identify the abductors.
Sources in Baksa said the National Democratic Front of Boroland, which has a strong base in the area, might have demanded money from the construction firm and kidnapped the engineer as it refused to pay them. No one from the company was available for comment.
Baksa superintendent of police Birbikram Gogoi said, “It is too early to identify the group involved in the abduction. We have started investigations and launched an operation to rescue the official.”
Militant groups in Assam have, in the past, targeted workers and officials of private companies and public sector undertakings working in Assam and had even abducted and killed some.
Similar abductions by militants have been reported from Karbi Anglong, Dima Hasao and the Bodoland Autonomous Areas District.
Sources said the young engineer’s abduction has raised questions about the security of people from outside Assam working in different government and private development projects.
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