Assam: 44 workers from Jammu and Kashmir detained in Tinsukia, movement toward border areas raises eyebrows

A group of 44 individuals reportedly from Jammu and Kashmir were detained by local residents near the New Tinsukia Railway Station at Hijuguri, Assam raising fresh questions over the increasing movement of outside labourers toward sensitive border districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

According to locals, the group had arrived in Tinsukia by the Amritsar Express. When questioned, some of them claimed they were travelling to Roing for electrical tower-related work, while others stated they were en route to Dibrugarh. A few among them reportedly mentioned Anini, a district located close to the India–China border, as their destination.

This incident comes just days after a similar episode in Tezpur, where another group of labourers, suspected to be Bangladeshi nationals, were detained by police. That group had said they were heading to Tawang to work as labourers, also a strategically sensitive border region.

The repeated instances of labourers from J&K moving toward locations such as Tawang, Anini, and Roing have triggered local suspicion and raised questions among communities. Residents are asking why labourers from such distant regions are being brought in for work near the border when the Northeast has a substantial local workforce.

Local residents have informed both the local police and the Railway Police about the Tinsukia incident, prompting further inquiry into the movement and purpose of these individuals.