GUWAHATI: Leader of workers who are currently trapped at the bottom of the flooded rat-hole coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district was arrested on Thursday night, even as rescuers from Navy and Army made little headway on the operation’s fifth day.
An official said dewatering of 340ft-deep vertical shaft continued on Friday using specialised machines brought in by ONGC and Coal India. So far, the body of a Nepalese worker has been retrieved. The labourers were trapped inside 3-kilo coal quarry at Umrangso after a sudden gush of water flooded the site on Jan 6. Police said their ‘sardar’ (leader), Hanan Laskar, had fled the site soon after. Earlier on Tuesday, Punish Nunisa, the quarry’s lease-holder, was arrested.
Congress on Friday held a state-wide sit-in demonstration over the alleged illegal coal syndicate in the state. APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah said the “failure of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma govt has been exposed with the tragic deaths of innocent labourers trapped in the illegal coal syndicate in Umrangso.”
Borah said said the sit-in demonstration was held with the title “In Search of Truth: Who is the kingpin of the coal syndicate?” with a demand to identify the kingpin and make the name public. “We have not seen the CM expressing his pain at the death of a miner. No BJP politician or worker has visited the families of the miners to provide support at this critical moment. The CM has not visited the incident spot. BJP national president, who recently visited the state, did not give a statement on the incident,” he added.
Congress MP from the state and deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, said this was not an isolated incident and the issue of illegal mining in the region has been ongoing for years, with numerous similar tragedies in the past. He said Sarma should focus on what is happening in the state and take full accountability for the tragedy. “We demand exemplary punishment for those responsible for these illegal activities and compensation for the families,” Gogoi added.

GUWAHATI: Leader of workers who are currently trapped at the bottom of the flooded rat-hole coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district was arrested on Thursday night, even as rescuers from Navy and Army made little headway on the operation’s fifth day.
An official said dewatering of 340ft-deep vertical shaft continued on Friday using specialised machines brought in by ONGC and Coal India. So far, the body of a Nepalese worker has been retrieved. The labourers were trapped inside 3-kilo coal quarry at Umrangso after a sudden gush of water flooded the site on Jan 6. Police said their ‘sardar’ (leader), Hanan Laskar, had fled the site soon after. Earlier on Tuesday, Punish Nunisa, the quarry’s lease-holder, was arrested.
Congress on Friday held a state-wide sit-in demonstration over the alleged illegal coal syndicate in the state. APCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah said the “failure of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma govt has been exposed with the tragic deaths of innocent labourers trapped in the illegal coal syndicate in Umrangso.”
Borah said said the sit-in demonstration was held with the title “In Search of Truth: Who is the kingpin of the coal syndicate?” with a demand to identify the kingpin and make the name public. “We have not seen the CM expressing his pain at the death of a miner. No BJP politician or worker has visited the families of the miners to provide support at this critical moment. The CM has not visited the incident spot. BJP national president, who recently visited the state, did not give a statement on the incident,” he added.
Congress MP from the state and deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, said this was not an isolated incident and the issue of illegal mining in the region has been ongoing for years, with numerous similar tragedies in the past. He said Sarma should focus on what is happening in the state and take full accountability for the tragedy. “We demand exemplary punishment for those responsible for these illegal activities and compensation for the families,” Gogoi added.