Arunachal Pradesh: The five men were missing since September 2.
Five men, who disappeared from villages near the Chinese border earlier this month, were handed over to India by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army or PLA, army sources said this morning.
The delivery took place on Chinese soil and it will take the team more than an hour to reach the Indian side and enter Arunachal Pradesh through the Kibithu border post.
“The Chinese PLA has confirmed to the Indian Army that it will hand over the youth of Arunachal Pradesh to our side. The handover is likely to take place tomorrow, that is, on September 12, 2020 at a designated location,” the minister tweeted on Friday. of the Union, Kiren Rijiju.
The five men missing since September 1 were hunters, the army had said in a statement.
#HarKaDeshKeNaam#We care#ArunachalPradesh
Good news #India…
For the persistent efforts of # Indian Army, 5 hunters #Subansiri, who crossed #LACQUER on September 2, he will finally return on September 12. #PLA will deliver them to #India in #Damai#China at 09:30 in the morning. #LohitValleypic.twitter.com/FtyRaFLVXl– PRO Defense Tezpur (Assam / Arunachal Pradesh) (@ProAssam) September 11, 2020
Their families and locals, however, said they were porters.
Earlier this week, the Chinese military had confirmed its presence in the country.
“As a result of the persistent efforts of the Indian Army, five missing hunters from the Indian side of LAC in Upper Subansiri, who had inadvertently crossed to the other side on September 2, 2020, were located. On September 8, the Chinese Army responded by direct line and confirmed that the disappeared indigenous have been found on his side, ”the Army had said in a statement.
The Indo-Tibetan army and border police use locals as porters, guides and scouts during long-range patrols (LRP). They need help from the porters to transport supplies at all strategic points along the McMahon Line, the effective border between India and China.
Sources say that porters and guides after leaving cargo at outposts often go to higher altitudes to hunt mask deer or gather herbs such as “gumba.” Venison mask and gumba, a traditional medicine, have great prices on the international gray market. It is possible that the five men wandered off while seeking to hunt or gather herbs.
India and China have been locked in a military confrontation in eastern Ladakh since May, when the PLA entered Indian territory. Several rounds of military and ministerial talks have led to China’s only partial withdrawal from the Galwan Valley, where, in June, 20 Indian soldiers had been killed in the line of duty in a clash with Chinese troops.
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