A 47-year-old construction worker, Jagbandhu Jagat, working with the CAS Construction Company is reportedly missing since Friday morning.
Jagat was working on the rail over-bridge (ROB) constructed on the third line over river Ib under the South East Central Railway (SECR). He is believed to have been swept away by the river water. Sources said the CAS Construction Company is the executing agency of the ROB) work on river Ib.
According to eyewitnesses, due to heavy rain, the raw road was being constructed for the bridge built over the river and arrangements were made by putting a large pipe for water harvesting.
On early Friday morning, due to heavy rain, the water on both sides of the pipe was slowly eroding the soil; and at that point of time Jagbandhu Jagat was asked to stop the water by putting a boulder.
Around 10 am, Jagbandhu was believed to have been swept into the river; and at only about 1 pm, when locals reported the incident, divers from Jharsuguda were called. But Jagbandhu could not be traced till filing of this report.
Jagbandhu is a resident of the local village Ib. Outraged by the incident, people of the village ransacked the office of CAS Construction and some of the villagers even looted computers and other items. When contacted, SECR Bilaspur Division CPRO Prakash Chandra Tripathi said he was not aware of the details of the incident and was collecting more information.