Nine labourers from South Dinajpur district remain missing in Sikkim

BALURGHAT: Nine labourers who went to work on building bunkers for the Indian Army at the China border in North Sikkim are still missing. They were supposed to return home before Durga Puja. Each of the nine spoke to their family members a few hours before the flash flood in Sikkim and the next day, the family members lost contact with everyone.

After waiting for a long time on the assurance of the contractor company that had taken the labourers, the families lodged a missing complaint at the Balurghat Police Station on Thursday after which the disappearance of the workers came to light.

Of the nine workers, four are from Kumarganj block and five from different areas of Balurghat block.

According to family sources, on September 22, a group of 27 workers from different areas of South Dinajpur district went to work in the zero point area of North Sikkim through a contractor company in Siliguri to build bunkers on the Chinese border for the Indian Army.

Shiuli Soren, who lodged a missing complaint for her husband and son, said: “Both my husband and son have gone to work in Sikkim. I can’t find either of them. How can I live without them? The last time I talked to them on the mobile-phone was on October 3 and since then there is no trace of them. I spend my days in extreme anxiety.”

Bijin Krishna, District Magistrate of South Dinajpur said that by making a list of missing workers, administrative steps are being taken to find them.