- Wednesday, May 07, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN law minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday (27) said China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has handed over the missing teenager from the country’s north-eastern-most state of Arunachal Pradesh to the Indian Army.
On January 18, the 19-year-old Miriam Taron of Jido village in Upper Siang district of the state went missing.
Rijiju, who represents Arunachal Pradesh in the Indian parliament, said in a tweet that due procedures are being followed, including the teen’s medical examination. He also lauded the Indian Army for pursuing the case with its Chinese counterpart in another tweet.
“The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination,” he wrote.
The Chinese PLA handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army at WACHA-DAMAI interaction point in Arunachal Pradesh today.
I thank our proud Indian Army for pursuing the case meticulously with PLA and safely securing our young boy back home ?? pic.twitter.com/FyiaM4wfQk— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 27, 2022
The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination. https://t.co/xErrEnix2h
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 27, 2022
On Tuesday (25), Rijiju had said the Chinese side had conveyed to the Indian Army on January 20 that they had found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish the identity.
“To assist Chinese side in corroborating the identity, personal details and photo of the individual has been shared with the Chinese side by the Indian Army. Response from the Chinese side is awaited,” the minister had said in a statement put out on social media.
“Some people reported that Chinese PLA had taken him into their custody,” it said.
Rijiju, who is from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, said since the individual was missing from an area close to the Line of Actual Control between the two countries, the Indian Army immediately approached the Chinese side on January 19, asking for assistance in tracing and return of the individual, in case he had strayed into the Chinese territory or the PLA has taken him in their custody.
The Chinese side had given an assurance that they would search for the individual and return him as per established protocol, Rijiju said.
An official source in the Chinese military also said on Thursday that they returned the Indian citizen who “illegally” entered the Chinese side at a disputed border between the two neighbours, Reuters reported.
China’s announcement, however, did not confirm that the returned Indian citizen was Taron but it issued a warning to New Delhi.
“We urge the Indian side to strictly implement bilateral agreements, strengthen personnel management and control, and earnestly maintain normal order in the border areas,” it said.
Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman for the Western Theater Command of the PLA, said the Indian citizen was found by Chinese border guards during a patrol.
The individual “illegally entered Chinese territory and then was routinely questioned, quarantined and observed in accordance with relevant border control regulations, and given humanitarian assistance”, Long said in the statement posted on WeChat.
India and China have seen frequent clashes over their disputed Himalayan border and China claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh as part of its Tibet region.
There have been several instances of Indian civilians going missing near the border in recent years, and while New Delhi has often said that they were kidnap attempts by China, Beijing has denied it.
