The security forces in Nagaland picked up two suspected Chinese nationals last week from a valley near the state’s border with Arunachal Pradesh.
The two had allegedly spent time in a Naga rebel camp and were headed towards the India-Myanmar border.Following a tip-off from villagers, a
patrolling party of the Assam Rifles apprehended the duo, who claimed to be tourists. But they had no valid documents to authenticate their claim.
“Their nationality was suspect,” Assam Rifles spokesperson Lt Col AK Chaudhari told HT from Shillong. The two were handed over to the Nagaland police, he added.
A senior police officer from Nagaland capital Kohima said the possibility of the duo being Chinese was strong. “They told interrogators they had been to a camp of the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland,” he said.
The security forces have a hunch the duo had come to negotiate an arms deal. The NSCN and all other rebel groups in the Northeast swear by Chinese weapons.
There have been instances of Chinese nationals sneaking into India through southern Arunachal Pradesh, which shares the boundary with the Tibetan area of China as well as Myanmar.
On May 18, an alleged Chinese spy named Guan Liang was arrested from Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh. The man claimed to be from Henan province of China and a manager of a restaurant in Beijing. He admitted to having sneaked into India through the Kibithu area of Anjaw district in Arunachal Pradesh to meet friends.