Eight children missing from Assam

RANCHI: Around eight Jharkhand children who were working in Assam at brick kilns and as other labour are reported to be missing following the bloodbath unleashed last week by militants in that state. The parents of the children, all below 16 years age, are worried as repeated attempts to contact them have failed.

“My 14-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter had gone to Assam in June last year. They were working in a brick kiln factory. But we have not been able to contact them since the news of the killings. We last spoke to our children two months ago," said Tipru Nayak, a resident of Goratoli village of Ranchi.

Paresh Nayak of Selda village too has a similar story to tell. His two sons of 12 and 15 years and a 14-year-old daughter went to Assam last year.

But now he is unable to contact them. The two daughters and one son of Sukhnath Nayak of Janum Barki village of Ranchi are also missing in Assam. Nayak too failed to establish any contact with his children. Former chief minister Arjun Munda alleged that five people of the state were killed in United Liberation front of Assam attacks.

CM Madhu Koda had written a letter to his Assam counterpart, Tarun Gogoi, seeking security for his people. Every year thousands of people migrate to Assam to work in brick kiln factories and tea gardens.