According to reports, two people have been arrested in Assam’s Cachar district in connection with the breaking of the Barak river embankment, which resulted in a catastrophic flood in Silchar. Mithu Hussain Laskar and Kabul Khan have been recognised as the arrested persons.
Laskar was apprehended on Saturday, while Khan was nabbed on Friday night. Ramandeep Kaur, Superintendent of Police in Cachar, confirmed their arrest. She stated that the police were further investigating the issue.
On May 24, the Water Resources Department filed a police complaint against unknown miscreants for breaking through the embankment at Bethukandi, some 3 kilometres from the town centre, to allow rainwater from a marsh to pour into the Barak river.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier stated that the flood was a man-made calamity and that those responsible will face harsh punishment. Sarma said on Friday that six persons have been identified as the perpetrators of the embankment collapse that caused a deadly flood in Silchar town.
Kabul Khan apparently shot a video of the rupture, which the Chief Minister apparently showed to locals during a visit to the Cachar district embankment site. Sarma was seen asking people to identify the speakers in the video.
“The Bethukandi incident is a big lesson for us. The next time there is a flood, we have to post policemen at the embankment so that nobody can breach it. Regarding the Bethukandi breach, CID has been asked to register a case in Guwahati. Now the case for the Silchar flood shall be registered in Guwahati, people shall be interrogated in Guwahati and all investigations shall be done from Guwahati,” said CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Assam’s flood crisis deteriorated on Friday, with 14 more lives lost, bringing the death toll to 173, and a population of 29.70 lakh people impacted across 30 districts. Many areas of Cachar district’s badly impacted Silchar town remain submerged. The Chief Minister presented a cheque for Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the ten people who lost their lives in the Silchar disaster during his recent visit.