Arunachal teen, part of hunting group, ‘abducted’ by China’s PLA, says MP

GUWAHATI: A 17-year-old youth from Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh has been abducted by China’s Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) from Upper Siang district, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Arunachal-East, Tapir Gao, alleged on Wednesday evening.

District authorities said the youth, Miram Taron, a resident of Zido village of Upper Siang district, was part of a group that was hunting in the border area between both countries when the incident took place on Tuesday.

“The youth was among a group of local hunters. We came to know from others in the group, who escaped, that he was abducted by PLA from the Indian side,” Shashvat Saurabh, deputy commissioner of Upper Siang, said.

“As soon as we came to know of the matter, we informed Indian army authorities that operate in the region. Continuous efforts are underway to rescue the youth at the earliest,” he added.

BJP Lok Sabha member Tapir Gao took to Twitter to highlight the incident and sought help from Indian agencies to step up efforts for his early release.

GUWAHATI: A 17-year-old youth from Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh has been abducted by China’s Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) from Upper Siang district, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Arunachal-East, Tapir Gao, alleged on Wednesday evening.

District authorities said the youth, Miram Taron, a resident of Zido village of Upper Siang district, was part of a group that was hunting in the border area between both countries when the incident took place on Tuesday.

“The youth was among a group of local hunters. We came to know from others in the group, who escaped, that he was abducted by PLA from the Indian side,” Shashvat Saurabh, deputy commissioner of Upper Siang, said.

“As soon as we came to know of the matter, we informed Indian army authorities that operate in the region. Continuous efforts are underway to rescue the youth at the earliest,” he added.

BJP Lok Sabha member Tapir Gao took to Twitter to highlight the incident and sought help from Indian agencies to step up efforts for his early release.

“Chinese PLA has abducted Miram Taron, 17 years, of Zido village yesterday January 18, 2022 from inside Indian territory, Lungta Jor area (China built 3-4 kms road inside India in 2018) under Siyungla area (Bishing village) of Upper Siang district,” the MP tweeted on Wednesday evening.

To be sure, five men from Tagin tribe, who used to work as porters for Indian Army, had gone missing from Upper Subansiri district in September 2020 also. Following their disappearance, a brother of one of the five men alleged on social media that they had been ‘abducted’ by PLA. The same accusation was made by BJP MP Tapir Gao and Congress MLA from Pasighat Ninong Ering.

It was later revealed that the youths had strayed across the border during an expedition to hunt and collect medicinal herbs. They were handed back to India after 10 days by Chinese authorities.

The Indian army had then said that it was the third such instance of youths from Arunachal Pradesh living near the Indo-China border “straying inadvertently to the other side of line of actual control (LAC)” during “adventurous forays”.