Assam cabinet minister Pijush Hazarika while addressing the state assembly on Monday said that the labourers who died at the coal mine in Tinsukia’s Ledo had actually gone with the purpose of stealing.

According to Hazarika, the labourers who died were deployed by non-Assamese coal mafias.

Hazarika said, “Illegal coal mining is being carried out in Ledo. The persons lost their lives by trying to steal in the coal mine. Some others had buried them in the field.”

Meanwhile, the Congress and AIUDF have demanded a probe into the entire incident.

It may be mentioned that three labourers were killed and several others sustained serious injuries after a gas leak at a coal mine in Ledo on Sunday night.

The deceased were Sahidul Islam, Hussain Ali and Aasmat Ali. The victim’s families claimed that the owner of the coal mine buried the bodies with the help of a JCB in the middle of the night in an attempt to cover up the incident.