The Public Works Department (PWD) began repairing the approach road to the residence of 22-year-old Himashree Boro on the morning of October 12, ahead of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s proposed visit to her family. The sudden activity has drawn attention to the timing of the repairs, as the family continues to demand a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the young student’s death.
An excavator was deployed to fill potholes and repair damaged sections of the road leading to Boro’s home. While road maintenance is a routine responsibility of the department, the work ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit has raised questions about why the road conditions required attention only at this stage.
For residents who use the road regularly, damaged stretches and potholes remain everyday civic concerns that require timely maintenance rather than attention primarily ahead of official visits.
Boro’s body was recovered on October 7 near the railway line between Ponduru and Dusi in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. She had boarded the 22503 Kanniyakumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Express at Visakhapatnam on October 6 while returning to Guwahati after participating in a dance programme.
The Government Railway Police (GRP), during its preliminary inquiry, indicated that Boro may have fallen from the moving train. However, investigators have not conclusively established how she came to be outside the train or the circumstances leading to her death. Her family has alleged foul play and called for a comprehensive investigation.
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said it received a complaint through the Rail Madad portal on October 6 regarding alleged misbehaviour with a woman passenger aboard the train.
Following the complaint, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) at Srikakulam Road station searched the general and sleeper coaches but could not locate Boro.
According to railway authorities, CCTV footage from Visakhapatnam railway station showed Boro boarding the train’s S-2 coach after being dropped off by a local acquaintance.
Her family said she later contacted friends and expressed discomfort over the behaviour of several men in the coach, who allegedly made her feel unsafe. She reportedly also shared a video of the coach before contact with her was lost.
The sequence of events after the distress complaint has become a key part of the investigation, particularly because the initial search did not locate her.
The GRP and RPF have registered separate cases and are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. Investigators are recording statements from passengers who travelled in the coach and the person who dropped her at Visakhapatnam station.
They are also examining CCTV footage from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam to reconstruct the events leading to her disappearance and death. According to her family, two bags and documents belonging to Boro were found inside the S-2 coach.
A resident of Guwahati’s Bonda area, Boro was a student of B Borooah College and had travelled to Andhra Pradesh as part of a dance troupe. She was returning ahead of the other members of the group because she was scheduled to appear for an examination in Guwahati.
As preparations continued for the Chief Minister’s proposed visit, the road repairs brought a local infrastructure issue into the spotlight alongside the family’s demand for answers. The circumstances surrounding Boro’s death remain under investigation, with her family seeking a comprehensive account of what happened after she boarded the train and why she could not be traced following the reported complaint.
The investigation into her death and the questions raised by the family remain central to the case, while the timing of the road repairs has added another point of public attention ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit.