Five Bihu artists die in road mishap

Dibrugarh: Six people, including five members of a Bihu troupe, were killed in a road accident in Digboi in Tinsukia district early on Friday.
The artists, who belonged to the Birina Husori group of the Brahmajan area of Pengeri, were returning after performing at a Bihu function at the Sarbananda Singha stadium in Tinsukia when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a dumper in front of the Lion’s Club of Digboi in the Ramnagar area at 5 am.
The deceased have been identified as Ani Gogoi (17), Dipika Moran (17), Akash Pratim Sarmah (19), Biswajit Chetia (24), Hemanta Das (19) and Sanjib Chakhap (30). Chakhap was driving the vehicle.
Another 15 members of the troupe, who were injured, have been admitted in Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh. The injured are Gopal Gogoi (20), Sanjib Handique (20), Punya Kanta Saikia (19), Dipankar Moran (18), Brajakumar Moran (24), Pallab Saikia (19), Bikash Das (23), Bikash Baruah (21), Dhanmoni Borgohain (20), Kaushik Bordoloi (18), Tanka Phukan (20), Nirmal Gogoi (18), Hemanta Baruah (27), Dhon Daimary (19) and Prasanta Gogoi (20).
Police said rescuers used gas cutters to get access to the mangled vehicle before pulling out the injured. An injured troupe member said they were extremely tired as they had been waiting to perform since 9.30 pm on Thursday. The organizers finally called them on the stage at 2.30 am on Friday.
“On the way back, I was sitting behind the driver. Suddenly, he dozed off. Before I could raise an alarm, the vehicle hit a dumper coming from the opposite direction. Everything was over in a second,” the troupe member said. He denied that the driver was drunk.