Arunachal villagers pledge not to concede to demand of insurgents

Itanagar, Jun 5 (PTI): Residents of several villages along with family members of 48 active insurgents in Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district have pledged not to concede to ransom demand of militants, an official release said.

They took the pledge during a security meeting organised by the Longding Battalion of Assam Rifles (AR) on Saturday.

During the meeting, issues related to the security in the district were discussed in view of kidnapping and detention of locals by NSCN K-YA, a banned outfit.

Over 130 village chiefs, gaon burahs (village headmen), gram panchayat chairpersons, Zila Parishad members and officers of the district administration attended the meeting, the official release said.

The villagers also unanimously decided not to allow any fresh recruitment by the militant organisations in future from their respective villages and the family members of the active insurgents assured that they would make sincere endeavours to convince them to surrender.

The commandant of the battalion lauded the efforts of people, especially the Wancho community, of insurgency-hit districts – Tirap, Changlang and Longding – for organising a historic rally on May 30, conveying their resentment against insurgents.

Assuring that the Assam Rifles and the state police would make all out efforts to deny space to insurgent groups in Longding district, the official urged village authorities to take a united stand against insurgency.