Other States - Assam   

Squabble over `missing' Russian

GUWAHATI APRIL 18. A Russian geological engineer working for the Oil India Limited in upper Assam left for Moscow yesterday, leaving behind a trail of confusion and charges of claims and counter-claims.

The sudden departure of Patrick Pavel has landed the oil major in an embarrassing situation.

The episode related to the night of April 13 when the Russian, along with some of his colleagues and a couple of security guards, was forced to spend the night in the dense forest of Digboi after losing his way amid heavy rain and apprehensions about a herd of wild elephants running amok.

As he did not return to the base camp that night, OIL higher-ups were alarmed and the matter reached the Chief Minister's office in the early hours of April 14 fearing another high-profile abduction of a foreigner by insurgents.

``We were informed by the Tinsukia district authorities,'' said the CM's office. As Oil India woke up to a 'disaster'' on Bihu day, a dishevelled Pavel walked into his base camp, worn out by the previous night's experience.

According to him, the land telephone lines of the field camp had snapped due to the heavy rain, the walkie-talkie battery had exhausted and he and his colleagues had to spend the night literally on a tree fearing attack from the wild elephants.

But as the media lapped up the event initially as a high-profile kidnapping, an embarrassed Mr. Pavel found the media glare too much to bear and left for Moscow on the next available flight.

The civil authorities blamed the OIL authorities for not providing sufficient information about the movement of the Russian so that a security cover could be thrown. However, OIL is maintaining that Mr. Pavel's departure has nothing to do with any insurgent activities. ``We do not have any report that the Russian expert left for Moscow in panic after he had spent a night in the jungles. This happened due to communication gap and bad weather,'' said Mr. N.M. Bora, General Manager (Geo Science). — UNI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Entertainment | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Squabble over `missing' Russian

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu