Five youths missing from Arunachal found, confirms Indian Army

Tezpur (Assam), Sept 9: The Indian Army on Tuesday confirmed that whereabouts of the five youths from Arunachal Pradesh who went missing from the Indian side of LAC in Upper Subansiri has been traced.

 

 

"As a result of the persistent efforts of the Indian Army, five missing hunters from the Indian side of LAC in Upper Subansiri, who had inadvertently crossed over to another side on September 2 2020, have been traced," Lt Col Harsh Wardhan Pande, PRO Defence, Tezpur said.

 

Pande said that the Chinese Army confirmed that the missing Indians have been found on their side. "Chinese Army on September 8 responded on the hotline and confirmed that the missing Indians have been found on their side. Formalities for their early transfer is being coordinated with the Chinese Army," he said.

 

According to the reports, it is stated that it is common for the residents of there to enter into forests along the LAC for livelihood. With the LAC not clearly marked at places, they are caught by PLA soldiers.

 

Earlier, on Tuesday, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "China's PLA has responded to the hotline message sent by the Indian Army. They have confirmed that the missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side. Further modalities to handover the persons to our authority is being worked out."

 

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that they had no information about the five men.

 

Last week BJP leader Tapir Gao had reported that 5 Tagin youths have reportedly been abducted by China’s PLA from the Sera7 area below the McMahon Line under Indian territory in Upper Subansiri in Arunachal since 3rd Sept and the similar incident took place in March.

 

The Congress MLA Ninong Ering had also claimed that PLA has abducted five boys from Upper Subansiri's Nacho region in Arunachal Pradesh. He appealed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure their 'safe return'.

 

The five youths were part of a group that had gone hunting in a forest in Upper Subansiri district. All of them belong to the Tagin community, the dominant tribe in the region. Their missing comes in the backdrop of the rising tensions between China and India in eastern Ladakh.