Chinese Army Hands Over Missing Arunachal Teen to India, Tweets Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

Union Minister Rijiju wrote, "The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination."

New Delhi: Days after a 19-year-old youth was reportedly found missing in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Thursday has confirmed that the boy Miram Taron has been handed over to the Indian Army, and due procedures including his medical examination are underway. Taking to Twitter, the union minister wrote, “The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination.”

The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination. https://t.co/xErrEnix2h

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 27, 2022

Earlier on Wednesday, Rijiju said that a hotline was exchanged between the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army(PLA) which responded positively, indicating handing over of the missing youth from Arunachal Pradesh. The PLA suggested a place of release, the minister said. “They are likely to intimate date and time soon. Delay attributed to bad weather conditions on their side,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Hotline exchanged on Republic Day by Indian Army with Chinese PLA. PLA responded positively indicating handing over of our national and suggested a place of release,” he said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Rijiju had said that India had shared details of the missing Arunachal Pradesh teenager with the PLA to corroborate the identity of the youth in their custody.

The Union minister, who represents the state in Lok Sabha, had earlier said that the Chinese side had conveyed to the Indian Army on January 20 that they had found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish the identity.

“To assist the Chinese side in corroborating the identity, personal details and photo of the individual has been shared with the Chinese side by the Indian Army. Response from the Chinese side is awaited,” Rijiju had said in a statement put out on Koo app.

According to the statement by Rijiju, 19-year-old Miram Taron of Jido Village in Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh was found missing on January 18. “Some people reported that Chinese PLA had taken him into their custody, it said.

Rijiju said that since the individual was missing from an area close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army immediately approached the Chinese side on January 19, asking for assistance in tracing and return of the individual, in case he had strayed into the Chinese territory or PLA has taken him in their custody. The Chinese side had given an assurance that they would search for the individual and return him as per established protocol, the minister had said.

In September 2020, the Chinese PLA had reportedly kidnapped five boys from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district before releasing them after about a week. The villagers in the region have to trek through the remote mountainous areas due to the lack of proper roads. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China.