An Arunachal Pradesh teenager was tied and blindfolded while in the custody of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for more than a week.
He was also kicked and given electric shock with a device, Opang Taron said after son Miram Taron was reunited with his family at a function organised on Monday by the Indian Army at Tuting in the State’s Upper Siang district.
Tuting is about 170 km north of district headquarters Yingkiong.
“He is still disoriented from what we went through across the border. He was kicked in the back and given a mild electric shock initially,” Opang said.
“He was kept blindfolded most of the time and his hands were tied during captivity. They untied him only when it was time to eat or answer nature’s call. But they provided him with adequate food,” the father said.
Miram, a resident of Zido village in the Upper Siang district, went missing while hunting close to the vague Line of Actual Control separating the two countries on January 18. The PLA returned him on January 27, more than 500 km away at the Damai border in the State’s Anjaw district.
BJP MP’s tweet
Tapir Gao, the BJP’s Arunachal East constituency MP, had first tweeted about the “abduction” of the teen by the Chinese soldiers on January 19. “Miram was given a warm welcome by the villagers of Zido, officials and panchayat leaders,” he said on Monday.
The PLA had allegedly abducted Miram from the Indian territory where China had constructed a four km road in 2018. His friend, who managed to escape from the PLA, reported the “abduction” to the authorities.
In September 2020, the PLA had allegedly caught five boys from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district before releasing them after about a week, also at a border point in Anjaw district.
Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China.