Thaindian News

Guwahati, Oct 16 (IANS) An engineer involved in the construction of the North-South-East-West Corridor expressway project was abducted by tribal separatists Friday, police said.
A police spokesperson said suspected militants of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) kidnapped P. Krishna Rao, project manager of a private construction firm, from highway site near Joypur in Kokrajhar district, about 230 km west of here.

“Four militants suspected to be from the NDFB abducted the engineer at gun point and sped away in vehicle towards a reserved forest area,” a police official said.

A private firm, Gayatri Company, is engaged in construction work of the four-lane highway in a 63-km strip in the district.

“We have already launched a massive hunt to rescue the abducted engineer,” the official said.

The total length of the North-South corridor from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the East-West corridor from Silchar to Saurashtra is about 7,300 km.

Already work of the express highway have been hit by a string of attacks and extortion demands by tribal separatists in the North Cachar Hills district in southern Assam.

Several private firms engaged in the construction work had left Assam fearing attacks as militants slapped heavy extortion demands on the companies.

“It is true the express highway project had suffered badly due to militancy,” a senior police official said.

“Extortion amounts ranging from Rs.500,000 to a million were slapped on private firms. Most of them simply refused to pay and some of them even abandoned their work and left,” he said.