Borkhola: Local Diver Finds Submerged Vehicle with Bodies of Mother and Infant, SDRF Criticised for Failure

Big failure of SDRF in rescuing a mother and one-year-old child who were trapped inside a submerged vehicle in Barak River. While a local diver could locate the vehicle within 5 minutes, overnight operation by SDRF turned out to be questionable. This incident happened last night in the Raipur area of Borkhola, where a four-wheeler while travelling through the Masimpur-Katakhal Dyke lost control and plunged into the Barak River. While the husband, who was driving, could escape after breaking open the glass of the car, he couldn’t rescue his wife and one-year-old daughter.

Due to the absence of any railing or reflectors where the road ended, the vehicle lost its control in the darkness of the night after the tyre slipped off due to the presence of big boulders on the embankment.

On December 17, at around 11:30 at night, Rais Uddin Barbhuiya, a resident of Buribail Part 3, Mohanpur in Barkhola, was returning home with his wife, Helena Begum Barbhuiya, and one-year-old daughter, Jannatara Begum, after a doctor’s visit in Silchar. While navigating the dark stretch of road in Raipur, their Alto car lost control, skidded off the embankment, and fell 200 metres into the Barak River.

Rais Uddin miraculously escaped by breaking the car’s window but was unable to save his wife and daughter, who were trapped inside the sinking vehicle. He sustained injuries and is currently undergoing treatment at Silchar Medical College.

Upon learning of the incident, Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta, accompanied by police personnel, SDRF teams, and hundreds of local residents, rushed to the scene. Despite continuous overnight search efforts, the mother, child, and vehicle remained missing early on Wednesday morning.

Surprisingly, a local diver and fisherman named Robijul Ali could trace the vehicle within 5 minutes after reaching the river bank. In a short dive of 30 seconds, Robijul Ali could locate the vehicle and tie a rope for it to be pulled out. With the help of locals and family members of the victim, the car was pulled out of the river.

The dead bodies of the mother and child were recovered from inside the car and have been sent to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Locals have strongly criticised the SDRF for their total failure even after having advanced gadgets and technical know-how. But Cachar Police was praised for their support throughout the operation and swift action in coordinating with different teams and locals.

A local has alleged, “The work of this embankment was done by the Water Resources Department which turned out to be full of loopholes. The road has been made extremely narrow by the contractor, which actually was wider before. Plus they have not installed any railings or markings to indicate where the road ends, that’s the reason why last night’s accident happened”.

After the rescue operation, Cachar SP Numal Mahatta said, “We have sent the dead bodies of Rais Uddin’s wife and daughter to the SMCH for postmortem. The driver of the car is undergoing treatment and we will start a detailed investigation into the matter. Whether this is an accident or does it have any foul play needs to be investigated”.

Director General Of Police, Assam, IPS GP Singh, has instructed SP Cachar to look into both sides of the accident to rule out any foul play and take proper actions if the accident was pre-planned.

Whether it was an accident or an incident remains a mystery to be investigated by Cachar Police.