Forty-four workers from Jammu experienced an unexpected detention at New Tinsukia Junction Railway Station on Monday morning after local youths mistook them for illegal Bangladeshi migrants, sparking a brief security concern that was swiftly resolved through official verification.
The workers were stopped immediately upon alighting at the station by vigilant locals who promptly contacted the Assam Police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) to investigate their identities. What initially raised suspicions turned out to be a straightforward case of mistaken identity involving legitimate migrant workers.
Subsequent investigation established that all 44 individuals were genuine residents of Jammu, traveling under contractor Khadim Hussain—also from Jammu—to a power transmission project site in Roing, Arunachal Pradesh. The group had previously completed similar infrastructure work in Uttarakhand before accepting this new assignment.
“The workers were earlier working in a similar project at Uttarakhand. When I was contacted by the Arunachal Pradesh project officials, we decided to proceed to the new site at Roing,” contractor Hussain explained to reporters.
Worker Fareed Ahmed clarified their travel intentions. “Most of us are from Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu. We have come by train and landed here today. We were supposed to proceed to Roing in Arunachal Pradesh for our work assignment,” he stated.
One of the local youths who detained the group defended their vigilance. “We nabbed the suspected people in Tinsukia Railway station when they were roaming. A contractor named Khadim Hussain brought them for work in Arunachal Pradesh,” he said, adding that heightened caution was necessary given recent security incidents across the country, including the Delhi bomb blast.
Tinsukia Additional Superintendent of Police Himanshu Das confirmed the workers’ legitimacy following document examination. “All their documents were verified and found to be in order. The workers were allowed to proceed to Arunachal Pradesh after complete verification,” Das stated.