Friday, March 29, 2024
spot_img

PLA abducts five Arunachal youths, police teams rush in

Date:

Share post:

spot_img
spot_img

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: Police forces and teams from the civil administration, in a bid to assess the ground reality, have moved to Nacho, a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh, from where five youths were reportedly abducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday.
“However, it will take days to get back any information from the area, which is very remote, having dense forests and with no clear-cut demarcation of the vast border,” Pasighat West MLA, Ninong Ering, told The Shillong Times late Saturday evening over the phone.
Arunachal Pradesh police, meanwhile, has launched a probe following reports that five people, who had gone hunting in a forest in Upper Subansiri district on the India-China border, were allegedly kidnapped by the Chinese army.
The incident occurred on Friday in the Nacho area of the district, their families said, quoting two others, who were in the group but managed to flee.
Those allegedly kidnapped have been identified as Toch Singkam, Prasat Ringling, Dongtu Ebiya, Tanu Baker and Ngaru Diri.
All of them belong to the Tagin community. Their family members living at district headquarters Daporijo said that some of their relatives had left for Nacho on Saturday morning to discuss the matter with the Indian Army.
Ering demanded that a befitting reply must be given to the PLA since such an incident had happened in the state earlier, too.
In March, a 21-year-old man was abducted by the PLA from the Asapila sector near the McMahon Line but was later released.
The development comes at a time when there is simmering tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with Indian and Chinese armies facing off in Ladakh of late.
“We have come to know about the reported abduction of five villagers by PLA from social media only. Accordingly, we are now trying to verify the ground reality. A police team from Nacho has moved to the area to find out what actually had happened, whether actually there was any abduction or whether these five persons are army porters or hunters,” Upper Subansiri Superintendent of Police, Keni Bagra, told The Shillong Times on Saturday.
Nacho, which is situated about 130 km from the district headquarters of Daporijo, has a sparse population (reportedly less than 400 people) with poor communication links.
Asked whether there has been any communication with the family members of the ‘abducted villagers’, Bagra said there has been no contact.
“No formal complaint has been lodged with the police till Saturday afternoon,” he said.
The police are reportedly in touch with the Army as there have been instances in the past of PLA capturing villagers from the LAC and releasing them.
Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister, Bamang Felix, speaking to the media, informed that the state government was in touch with the Army and trying to ascertain the facts on the ground.
Reacting on Twitter, Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal-East, Tapir Gao, said it was “time to take a stand against CCP (Chinese Communist Party).”
Meanwhile, condemning the reported development, AAPSU general secretary, Tobom Dai, said, “The oft repeated incidents committed on innocent people living in the vicinity of the international boundary by Chinese army are acts of aggression, undermining the peaceful coexistence of a sovereign neighbour.”
“We condemn the incident in the strongest words. Such an act of incursion creates artificial disputes. We demand immediate release of all the persons,” Dai added.
With no sign of an end to the deadlock at the volatile India-Chinese border in the Ladakh front, the reported abduction of these five Indians from bordering Arunachal Pradesh by the PLA has only added fuel to fire.
The latest talks between Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, with his Chinese counterpart have not resulted in anything with both issuing contradictory statements.
Though the flare-up on the border is new, it dates back to chairman Mao Zedong who professed the ‘Five Fingers’ strategy following Tibet’s annexation, stating “Tibet is the palm, which we must occupy, then, we will go after the five fingers.” The first among these fingers is Ladakh, followed by Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Even after decades, China has been inching towards the five fingers and its nexus with Nepal’s pro-China Communist government is ostensibly displayed.
Mounting Chinese troops around the Lipulekh Pass, located at the India-Tibet-Nepal tri-junction, echoes Beijing’s intent of a broader belligerent strategy against India.
Further, the sudden and precipitous new claim made by China in Bhutan’s eastern sector, which borders Arunachal Pradesh that is claimed by China as ‘southern Tibet’, is self-evident of the long-term goal of the big brother. China claims the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory on the ground that Tawang was once part of Tibet which it annexed by force.
Sikkim has been officially recognised as part of India by China during the Atal Behari Vajpayee’s regime. But there are recent border incidents in the former Himalayan kingdom pointing fingers at Mao’s territorial ambition.

spot_img
spot_img

Related articles

Two FIRs lodged, magisterial probe ordered; no arrests yet

We have got some leads, says East Khasi Hills police chief Ichamati KILLINGS By Our Reporter SHILLONG, March 28: Two FIRs...

Govt silent on murders; CM skips Ichamati on social media updates

By Our Reporter SHILLONG, March 28: An uneasy calm prevails in the volatile Ichamati area under Shella constituency in...

LS elections: All 11 nominations found valid

By Our Reporter SHILLONG, March 28: The nominations of all the 11 candidates who intend to the contest the...

Former GHADC CEM quits NPP, joins Congress

From Our Correspondent TURA, March 28: In a major boost to the Congress in Garo Hills, former chief executive...