Assam police arrested two persons in connection with the deaths of 20 construction workers in a mishap that occurred in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh on December 8.
The duo — Md Sirajul Ahmed, 36, and Sairuddin Ali, 27 — were arrested on charges of human trafficking and criminal negligence leading to the deaths of the workers in Anjaw district after the truck they were travelling in plunged into a 200-metre-deep gorge on Monday night.
The incident came to light on Wednesday after a survivor informed a border roads organisation (BRO) camp about the accident, prompting a multi-agency search and rescue operation. After gruelling efforts from Friday to Sunday involving more than 1,150 personnel, rescue teams recovered bodies from the gorge.
Officials from both states revised the death toll on Sunday to 20, including the truck driver. One construction worker survived the crash. Initial reports had suggested that 22 people were travelling in the vehicle.
A police official from Tinsukia told The Telegraph that Ahmed was arrested on December 11 and Ali on December 13 under multiple Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections dealing with human trafficking (143(3)), culpable homicide not amounting to murder (105), injury caused by a rash or negligent act (125(b)) and criminal conspiracy (61(2)).
Both the accused were remanded to three days of police custody by a local court.
All the construction workers, as well as the arrested duo, were residents of Tinsukia and had been supplied for building work in Anjaw district.
The deceased were from Gelapukhiri village, which has been plunged into grief.
A district disaster management authority (DDMA) official from Anjaw district told this newspaper that three of the remaining bodies, located by Friday, were recovered on Sunday morning by search teams comprising personnel from the NDRF, army, BRO, police, DDMA and local volunteers.
“We have sent 14 bodies, 11 of which were retrieved on Saturday, to Tinsukia on Sunday. From all accounts, including the survivor, all the bodies have been recovered,” the official said.
Over 150 personnel were directly involved in the high-risk recovery operation, the official said.
