PLA help sought to trace Arunachal youths

New Delhi, October 15

With no news about two Arunachal Pradesh youths, who have been missing for the past two months from near the China border, the police said PLA’s assistance had been sought to locate them.

The Arunachal Pradesh Police said search was underway for Bateilum Tikro and his friend Bayingso Manyu who had reportedly left home in Anjaw district on August 19 to hunt in the high-altitude mountains along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“We will submit a report to the state government after completing formalities involving the witnesses, family members and the villagers living near the border. It is, however, common for locals to explore forests in search of medicinal herbs,’’ said Anjaw District SP Rike Kamsi. Suspecting that the two might have taken shelter somewhere within the Indian territory, the officer said the PLA’s assistance had been sought to locate them. Dishanso Chikro, the younger brother of Bateilum, has claimed that they may have been detained by the Chinese army. “We suspect that they could have inadvertently crossed the LAC and have been detained by the PLA,” he reportedly told the police.