PLA intrusion in Ladakh sector, but Army mute

Intruders said to have destroyed bunkers

While some reports suggested that the Chinese troops in helicopters entered one and a half kilometres into the Indian airspace, other reports said the helicopters landed in the Chinese territory and then the troops marched into the area to dismantle the bunkers, a move aimed at displaying that the area belonged to them.

The Army denied any such incident. But sources said a few days ago two Chinese helicopters had entered into airspace and landed one and a half kilometres into the Indian territory at Chumar in the Chingthang area of Tehsil Nyoma.

The Chinese troops attempted to dismantle an old Army bunker, unused by Indian troops for long, sources said.

Another version quoted to eyewitnesses, who are often grazers, said that Chinese helicopters landed near the Line of Actual Control and then marched in to destroy old Army bunkers and tents put up by the  Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). A report has been sent by state government officials to their headquarters.

Udhampur-based Northern Command Army spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said there was no report of helicopter landing or destruction of bunkers. However, senior Army officials said Chumar was an area where the LAC was not clearly demarcated and there was always a difference of perception in the area. In July 2009, Chinese troops had entered nearly 1.5 km into Indian territory near Mount Gya, recognised as the international border by India and China, and painted the boulders and rocks in red.

On June 21, 2009, a Chinese helicopter entered Indian airspace and reportedly air-dropped food in Chumar, northeast of Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.