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Itanagar, Dec 21 (PTI) Two persons, who were abducted by militants of the Ang Mai faction of banned outfit NSCN-K from Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh, were released on Thursday after remaining in captivity for nearly a month, police said.
Militants of the Ang Mai faction of the NSCN-K had abducted a village chief and a ‘gaon bura’ (village headman) from Chop village in the district on November 28 for allegedly not paying a levy of Rs 50,000 to the outfit.
They were reportedly taken to Longpa village in neighbouring Myanmar.
The village headman is an official post, while the village chief is a traditional one.
Village headman Chopkhu Gangsa (53) and village chief Chijgsan Wangham (45) were released on Thursday and they reached their village around 2 pm, Longding Superintendent of Police Dekio Gumja said.
“Their health conditions are stated to be stable,” the SP said, without elaborating on the details regarding their safe release.
The outfit had reportedly demanded a ransom of Rs 1.65 crore for their release. However, it released the captives after pressure was put on by the police, security forces and community-based organisations, although it is not clear whether any ransom was paid.
Another person, identified as Gangmoih Gangsa, who had gone to Longpa to negotiate the release of the duo, was also detained by the militants. However, he was also released along with the duo on Thursday.
This was the second incident of abduction by militants in the district in November after NSCN-KYA rebels kidnapped two employees of a private construction firm.
Shashank Yadav, a junior engineer, and Liamgao Pansa, a supervisor of a construction company, were kidnapped by three armed militants of the outfit from a camp near the Tisa River between Pongchau and Konnu village in Longding district on November 16. They were working under a contractor for a BRTF project.
However, both were released on November 28.
Though it had been suspected that the motive behind the kidnapping was ransom, it has not been confirmed whether any amount had been paid for their safe release.
On October 29, two brothers, Katwang Wangham, a village chief, and Wangtai Wangsu of Kamhua Noksa village in the district were kidnapped by militants belonging to the NSCN-KYA faction, which had demanded Rs 60 lakh as ransom for their safe release.
Nearly two weeks after being held captive, the two were finally released on November 9. However, it is not clear whether the payment of ransom facilitated their release. PTI UPL UPL ACD
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