Assam CM orders probe into Meghalaya labourers death

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday had ordered additional chief secretary S Meora to probe into the 14 labourers of Dhubri district dead in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills.

The labourers engaged in a road construction hailed from Golokganj area in Dhubri district were reportedly died in food poisoning at their camp at Saipung area in the East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya on Monday.

According to Meghalaya police report, the labourers had collected wild fruits from nearby dense forest and made chutney and consumed it with evening meal on Sunday.

The bodies of the labourers were found at their camp on Monday morning and Meghalaya police had carried out the post-mortem.

The cause of death of the labourers in post-mortem have awaited.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the labourers had arrived in their home village on Wednesday morning and local people had alleged that it was a pre-planned murder and demanding a new post-mortem to find out the actual cause of death.

"Suspected militants had demanded ransom to the contractor of the construction recently, " local people said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)