New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju Sunday confirmed that the Army in Arunachal Pradesh has approached the Chinese military about the alleged abduction of five Indians Friday from near the border between the two countries.
Rijiju is one of the two Lok Sabha MPs from Arunachal Pradesh, and is also the MoS, Minority Affairs.
Rijiju said in a tweet Sunday that the Indian Army had already sent a hotline message to its People’s Liberation Army counterparts at the border point, and is awaiting a response.
The Indian Army has already sent hotline message to the counterpart PLA establishment at the border point in Arunachal Pradesh. Response is awaited. https://t.co/eo6G9ZwPQ9
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 6, 2020
The Army has also confirmed it has made the approach.
Usually, the hotlines are available at the brigade commanders’ level, and are used when a military commander wants to clarify or convey any point of concern to the military commander across the border.
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The incident
Five men belonging to the Tagin community had gone hunting in a forest in the Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district close to the India-China border, and were allegedly kidnapped by the PLA from the Sera-7 patrolling area of the Army.
Two others who were part of the group had managed to escape and report the matter to the Arunachal Pradesh Police, who are currently probing the matter.
This is not the first such incident that has come to light. Earlier this year, 21-year-old Togley Sinkam was abducted at gunpoint by the Chinese military from the Asapila sector of near the McMahon Line. He was released by the PLA after 19 days.
Tensions running high
Army sources confirmed that tensions are running high at the eastern sector in Arunachal Pradesh, and additional troops have been deployed at the forward locations, in the wake of the fresh tensions with China at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh last week.
No transgression or confrontation has, however, been reported so far between the two sides in the eastern sector.
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