The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is expected to hand over the five youths from Arunachal Pradesh who strayed across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) separating India and China, Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Friday.
“The Chinese PLA has confirmed to Indian Army to hand over the youths from Arunachal Pradesh to our side. The handing over is likely to take place any time tomorrow i.e. 12th September 2020 at a designated location,” he tweeted.
The five teenagers from the Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district had gone hunting to the Tungdara Mountain or Sera-7 close to the un-demarcated boundary between the two countries. They strayed to the other side on September 2 and were reportedly captured by the PLA.
Hotline message
On September 8, Mr. Rijiju said the PLA had responded to a hotline message sent by the Indian Army and confirmed that the five youths had been found on the Tibetan side of the border.
Upper Subansiri falls under the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency that Mr. Rijiju represents for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On September 7, the Indian Army had handed over 13 yaks and four calves to China. The high-altitude bovine creatures had strayed into West Kameng district on August 31 but the Army had erroneously tweeted the district’s name as East Kameng.
