The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China on Thursday handed over Miram Taron, a youth from Arunachal Pradesh, to Indian Army, eight days after he was allegedly abducted near the Line of Actual Control where he had gone for hunting.
Informing about the development, Union law minister, Kiren Rijiju in a tweet said Taron was handed over to Indian army personnel at Wacha Damai (Kibithu) interaction point in Arunachal Pradesh. "I thank our proud Indian army for persuing the case meticulously with PLA and safely securing our boy back home," Rijiju, a Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh tweeted.
Wacha-Damai, where the boy was handed over, is situated in Anjaw district on the eastern part of Arunachal and is several hundred kilometers away from the place in Upper Siang district on northern side of the state from where the boy was allegedly taken into custody by the PLA.
19-year-old Taron, a resident of Jido village in Upper Siang district, went missing from Shiyung La village in Bishing area, close to the LAC on January 18.
Another BJP MP from the frontier state, Tapir Gao on January 19 claimed that Taron was abducted by Chinese PLA from Indian territory. The boy had gone to the forest area for hunting along with another friend, who managed to flee and inform the villagers and Indian army.
On January 25, Rijiju said since the boy went missing from areas close to Line of Actual Control, Indian army on January 19 approached Chinese side asking for assistance in tracing and return of the individual, in case he had strayed into Chinese territory or PLA had taken him into their custody.
"On January 20, Chinese side intimated that they found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish his identity. To assist the Chinese side in corroborating his identity, personal details and photo of the individual were shared with Chinese side by Indian army," Rijiju tweeted on Tuesday.
This is not the first such case. In September 2020, five youths from Upper Subansiri district had gone missing similarly and were captured by Chinese PLA after they allegedly strayed into Chinese territory. They had also reportedly gone for hunting. The five were, however, handed over to Indian authorities 10 days later after New Delhi had similarly taken up the matter with China.
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