Union minister and Arunachal Pradesh MP, Kiren Rijiju on September 6 informed that the Indian Army has sent hotline message to People’s Liberation of Army (PLA) in connection with the reports regarding five men reportedly abducted by the Chinese army from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district.
“The Indian Army has already sent hotline message to the counterpart PLA establishment at the border point in Arunachal Pradesh. Response is awaited,” the Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal West tweeted.
Meanwhile, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) termed the incident as unfortunate and at the same time called upon both the Centre and the state government to ensure early and safe release of all the five civilians.
“The recent incident is not an isolated case as time and again the PLA have been repeatedly indulging in similar antics whereby innocent civilians living at the inhospitable border areas are taken captive at regular intervals. Recurrence of such incidents simply reflect the failure of central government as well as the state government in protecting life and security of our people inhabiting the border areas,” the union said in a statement.
Citing that the absence of all-weather roads and other infrastructure in the border areas have its own sordid stories to tell, the apex students’ body of the state said: “ This absence is not only making life difficult of the locals living in the border areas but also for the defence personnel’s deployed along the LAC.”
Centre must stop looking Arunachal only through the prism of security and rather take a more inclusive approach of development which are at par with other Indian states, it said.
According to reports, the five men were reportedly abducted from a forest near Nacho while they had gone out for hunting. One of the family members also alleged that his brother and four others from Nacho circle were abducted by the PLA.
