Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 4 Aug: The Koloriang police in Kurung Kumey district on Tuesday arrested one Roham Ali, the subcontractor who had brought 19 labourers to Damin for the construction of a BRO road and later fled, leaving the workers to their own fate.
Ali is currently in police remand in Koloriang for five days. He was produced before the magistrate on Thursday.
Speaking to this daily, Koloriang Police Station OC Gijum Basar informed that Ali was arrested from Pasighat in East Siang district, where he was working under a local person after fleeing from Koloriang.
The OC also informed that Ali had taken an advance of Rs 2,50,000 from the contractor for procuring ration items.
One Bengia Tani was also arrested on Tuesday for firing in the air and threatening the labourers before the day of their escape, the OC said.
Tani is currently in judicial custody and is admitted in a hospital as he has tested Covid-19 positive.
The police have seized the pistol from his possession.
A case under Sections 420 and 406 has been registered against Ali, while a case under Sections 341 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against Tani.
The police are on the lookout for another subcontractor, Rihajul Haque, who is absconding.
Of the 19 BRO workers, 10 were found alive and rescued, while the dead bodies of five were found in a decomposed condition, and one drowned in the Furak river. The remaining three workers are still missing and their whereabouts are not known. The district administration called off search and rescue operation to trace the missing workers on 1 August.
The workers had gone missing on 5 July and were reported missing on 13 July.
