Top NHPC official abducted

A K Agarwal heads Tawang basin power project; incident occurred on Assam-Arunachal border; police suspect role of NDFB faction

A senior official of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) was abducted by a group of unidentified gunmen at Bhalukpong on the Assam-Arunachal border Saturday evening. Anil Kumar Agarwal,the general manager-rank officer,is heading the upcoming 800-MW Tawang Basin hydro-electric power project in Arunachal Pradesh.

Agarwal was abducted from an area called 12-Mile on the Tezpur-Bomdila Road last evening by at least six youths who first accosted his official vehicle and then whisked him away on one of the four motorbikes used by them, said Arabinda Kalita,the SP of Sonitpur district,on Sunday.

Police said one of the four motorbikes has been impounded and the owners of all the four bikes have been identified. But we have not made any arrests so far. We have to move very cautiously so that the life of the person is not put at risk, the SP said.

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Police suspect the role of Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) behind the abduction. The faction has a strong presence in the forest areas of Sonitpur district from where Agarwal was abducted.

The SP,however,wondered why a senior NHPC officer was travelling without a PSO. Agrawal was travelling along with his official driver from Tawang and was supposed to halt overnight at Tezpur,from where he was to travel to Guwahati on Sunday to catch a flight to Hyderabad.

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