The Arunachal Pradesh police launched an investigation on Saturday to look into allegations that China’s People’s Liberation Army had kidnapped five people from a district situated along the Indo-China border in the state, PTI reported. The incident came amid fresh tensions between India and China.
The five men had reportedly gone hunting in a forest in Nacho area of the Upper Subansiri district on Friday. Two other people who were with the group reportedly managed to escape and informed the police.
“I have sent the officer-in-charge of the Nacho police station to the area to verify the facts and directed him to report immediately,” Superintendent of Police Taru Gussar said. “However, the report will be available only by Sunday morning.”
The families of the five men said they have also approached the Indian Army for help.
Congress MLA Ninong Ering tweeted about the incident earlier in the day. “Five people from Upper Subansiri district of our state Arunachal Pradesh have reportedly been ‘abducted’ by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA),” Ering said in a tweet, along with screenshots of a Facebook post by a person who claimed that his brother was among the people abducted. “Few months earlier, a similar incident happened. A befitting reply must be given to PLA.”
Ering also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to take appropriate action.
Ering told India Today that Chinese troops have started intruding into Arunachal Pradesh. “The Chinese have again started creating a nuisance,” he said. “Just like in Ladakh and Doklam, they [Chinese Army] have started incursions in Arunachal Pradesh. It is proved that they have entered our [side of] LAC.”
In March, the Chinese army had abducted a 21-year-old man from Asapila sector near the McMahon line. He was released after 19 days in captivity.
India and China have again become locked in a standoff in the South Bank area of Pangong Lake in Ladakh. The Indian Army said on August 31 that its soldiers had thwarted the movement of the Chinese military in strategic area. The escalation in tensions came over two months after the troops of both the countries clashed on the border on June 15, in Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives and 76 were injured. An unidentified number of Chinese soldiers also died in the clash.
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