Agencies
SHILLONG, APRIL 14
Even as Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has written to his Meghalaya counterpart Mukul Sangma urging a CBI probe into the death of 14 labourers in the Jaintia Hills, allegedly due to the consumption of wild poisonous fruits, the Meghalaya government has intimated the Assam government on the preliminary findings of an inquiry into the incident.Chief secretary PBO Warjri has assured all assistance and cooperation to his Assam counterpart Jitesh Khosla in connection with the case even as a police inquiry headed by IGP A Sun is yet to submit its report.
"The chief secretary has provided all inputs available based on preliminary findings detailing the incident, feedbacks and steps taken by the state government to inquire into the incident on Saturday," an official said. Warjri has assured necessary assistance from his government to Assam additional chief secretary Syam Lal Mewara, who is conducting a parallel inquiry into the deaths. The Meghalaya police are also awaiting a report on the viscera samples taken from the victims to ascertain the cause of death, the official said. The construction workers, all of whom hailed from Assam's Dhubri, were found dead at a makeshift camp in a remote village in Saipung area of East Jaintia Hills district on August 6. Preliminary investigations revealed they had consumed a highly poisonous fruit grounded together as 'chutney', SP MK Dkhar said.
Police said it is suspected the labourers had no knowledge about the poisonous content of the fruit and might have consumed it on April 5 for dinner. The Meghalaya police had ruled out any foul play in the deaths.
