Umrangso, Jan 11: After six days of relentless rescue operations, spanning over 160 hours, rescue teams from the Indian Army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have successfully retrieved three bodies of miners trapped in an illegal rat-hole mine in Tin Kilo, Umrangso, on Saturday.

The first body of the day, identified as 26-year-old Lijan Magar from Dima Hasao, was recovered at around 7:36 am. Shortly after, the second body was retrieved and later, identified as Khusi Mohan Rai, a 57-year-old resident of Kokrajhar.

The rescue efforts intensified, and within a few more hours, one additional bodies were recovered - 37-year-old Sarat Goyary from Sonitpur. The fourth body is yet to be identified.

This brings the total number of bodies recovered from the rat-hole mine to four. The first body, a Nepalese miner Ganga Bahadur Srestha from Udayapur district, was retrieved on January 8.

The operation, which involves teams from the Army, NDRF, and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), is still underway with a focus on dewatering the mine using high-powered pumps provided by Coal India.

As many as nine miners are believed to be trapped in the flooded mine, and authorities remain hopeful of recovering more bodies.

Meanwhile, First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed against Debolal Gorlosa, Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, and his wife, Kanika Hojai, for their alleged role in the illegal mining operation today.

The FIRs, registered at the Umrangso Police Station, accuse the couple of violating the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Supreme Court's ban on rat-hole coal mining.

The legal action follows mounting public outcry over the illegal mining operations in the region. Two individuals, Hanan Laskar and Punish Nunisa, have already been arrested in connection with the incident.

Authorities continue to investigate the illegal coal mining activities as the rescue operations progress.