PLA confirms 5 missing Arunachal youth found: Rijiju

Handing over process being worked out

New Delhi, Sept. 8: China’s P e o p l e ’ s L i b e r a t i o n Army has confirmed that five youth missing from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by them and their handing over process to Indian authorities is being worked out, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday.

The five youth had gone missing on Friday from the Sino- Indian border in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.

“China’s PLA has responded to the hotline message sent by the Indian Army. They have confirmed that the missing youth from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side. Further modalities to handover the persons to our authority is being worked out,” Mr Rijiju tweeted.

Mr Rijiju, the minister of state for youth affairs and sports, is an MP from the state.

The incident of five missing youth came to light when two members from their group, who had gone for hunting in the jungle together, returned home and informed the families of the five that they had been whisked away by the Chinese troops from Sera- 7, an Army patrol zone located about 12 km further north of Nacho.

Nacho is the last administrative circle along the McMahon Line and is around 120 km from the district headquarters Daporijo.

Those who were allegedly kidnapped by the Chinese Army have been identified as Toch Singkam, Prasat Ringling, Dongtu Ebiya, Tanu Baker and Ngaru Diri.

“As a result of persistent efforts of the Indian Army, five missing hunters from the Indian side of LAC in Upper Subansiri, who had inadvertently crossed over to the other side on Sept 2, were traced. The Chinese Army on September 8 responded on hotline and confirmed that the missing Indians have been found on their side,” an Army official said.