Silchar, March 4: Assam police have begun an investigation into allegations that Bangladeshi nationals have landed jobs as casual workers in Hindustan Paper Corporation’s plant at Panchgram in Hailakandi district.

A senior police official today confirmed that a probe was indeed on.

The Rs 387-crore HPC produces on an average one lakh tons of cultural paper annually.

The police officer said though Dispur has instructed the paper mill to screen the identity of every job-seeker because of its proximity to the international border, the mill authorities do not always do so.

“It is a serious breach of security as there is always a chance of sabotage in the Panchgram unit of the HPC, which is one of the biggest paper plants in Asia,” a police source said.

Mohan Jha, the executive director of the Cachar Paper Mill of the HPC, made it clear that there was no scope for any person to evade the strict security surveillance in the HPC’s Panchgram plant. He, however, confirmed that Assam police have indeed launched a probe into illegal migrants getting jobs in the mill.

Though Hailakandi district does not share a border with Bangladesh, its adjoining districts of Cachar and Karimganj do — over 132km — with the neighbouring country.

Assam police launched the probe after being ticked off by the Centre about reports of Bangladeshis working in the paper mill.

A senior official of the HPC’s Panchgram unit said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) usually screens aspirants looking for casual work. He added that the jawans may have slipped up a couple of times because of work pressure and in their haste to hire temporary hands who are in high demand.

The HPC official said sometimes as many as 500 casual workers are recruited in Panchgram mill on a daily basis.

Local residents have not also ruled out the possibility of Bangladeshis working in the mill as the Indo-Bangladesh border in Kathigorah block in Cachar district is only 25km away from the plant.