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No news yet of five Arunachal men allegedly abducted by China’s PLA
Police team sent to verify facts yet to reach remote area due to bad roads, rain
Authorities in Arunachal Pradesh (AP) were yet to get any news on the whereabouts of the five men allegedly abducted by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops from Upper Subansiri district on Thursday.
A police team has been sent to verify the incident after reports emerged on social media about the missing men. But the team is yet to return from the remote border location. Authorities said there was no confirmation that the abductions had taken place.
“The incident might have occurred, but we have not received any complaint about the disappearance of the men from any of their family members. We know about the incident only through local sources,” Taru Gussar, superintendent of police (SP), Upper Subansiri, told HT over the phone on Sunday.
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The reports of disappearance of the men, who used to work as porters for the Indian Army, surfaced on Friday after Prakash Ringling, a brother of one of the five missing persons, posted about it on social media. He mentioned that the alleged abduction took place at Sera-7, which is located on the border between India and China.
The missing men have been identified as Tanu Bakar, Prasad Ringling, Ngaru Diri, Dongtu Ebiya and Toch Singkam. Two other men, who were also with the five missing, reportedly managed to escape.
Reports of the incident was shared on social media by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Tapir Gao, who represents Arunachal East constituency in the Lok Sabha. He stated that the men belonged to the Tagin tribe and were abducted from the Indian side of the McMohan Line that bifurcates the north-east’s largest and the least populous state and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.
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Congress lawmaker Ninong Ering, who represents Pasighat West in the Arunachal legislative assembly, also tweeted about the incident.
“A team from Nacho police station has gone to the border area on Saturday to carry out an investigation. But until Sunday afternoon, we have not got any report from them. The area is remote and the road condition has worsened because of heavy rains during monsoon,” said Gussar.
“It is premature to say what had happened until the team files its report. If there are no blockades on the road due to landslides, the team is expected to return either late on Sunday or Monday,” said the SP.
The border area, where the alleged incident took place, is around 14 days walking distance from Nacho, which is located around 60 kilometres (km) from Daporijo, the headquarters of Upper Subansiri district.
The district authorities have also not been able to get in touch with Indian Army officials at the border due to a snag in the telecommunication link.
“The men belong to my constituency. But there is no confirmation yet on whether any abduction took place. Since the area is inaccessible, there is not much detail available yet. Their family members have also not approached the police,” said Nakap Nalo, state tourism minister and a legislator from the Nacho constituency.
Earlier on March 21, Togley Singkam (21) from Upper Subansiri district, who had crossed over to TAR while searching for herbs, was nabbed by Chinese security agencies.
He had returned on April 7 following talks between the representatives of the Indian Army and the PLA.
