Indian Army Sought Reply from PLA on Missing Arunchal Men: Rijiju

A signboard is seen from the Indian side of the Indo-China border at Bumla, Arunachal Pradesh. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Reuters)

Amid the border tension between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), five people from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district have been abducted by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), reported The Arunachal Times. The five persons from the Tagin community were abducted from the jungle near Nacho while they were out hunting.

BJP MP Kiren RIjiju tweeted on 6 September, “The Indian Army has already sent hotline message to the counterpart PLA establishment at the border point in Arunachal Pradesh. Response is awaited. “

From Nacho police station, 120 kilometers from the district headquarters, a police team has been sent on foot to the forward area village.

Superintendent of Police Taru Gussar told The Indian Express that the officer-in-charge of the Nacho police station has been sent to the area to verify facts and a report will be available soon.

According the media reports, the abducted persons - Toch Singkam, Prasat Ringling, Dongtu Ebiya, Tanu Baker and Ngaru Diri - all of who belong to the Tagin community - had gone to the forest for hunting, a traditional practice of the tribals in the area.

Ninong Ering, Arunachal Pradesh's Congress MLA told ABP that said the Chinese army has abducted five people from the Subansiri district. “There is a tension between India and China on the Ladakh border, so China is acting on the Arunachal Pradesh border to divert India's attention from there,” he said.

Two other villagers who had accompanied the abducted persons and managed to escape narrated the incident before the public, according to The Arunachal Times.

The incident has created panic among the villagers of Nacho.

The India-China border is about 170 kms from Daporijo, the headquarters of Upper Subansiri district, which itself is 280 kms from state capital Itanagar.

Villagers are always forced to trek in remote and mountainous areas of Arunachal Pradesh as there are no proper roads. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China, 520 kms with Myanmar and 217 kms with Bhutan.

(This is a developing story)

(With inputs from The Arunachal Times and IANS)