ITANAGAR: With less than 72 hours left for the Lok Sabha polls, a Gram Panchayat Chairman (GPC) was reportedly abducted by an armed militant group from Longding around 1 am on Wednesday.
The victim, identified as Sangam Wangsu, a 50-year-old member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was allegedly taken from his home at gunpoint.
Reportedly, the incident unfolded in the wake of threats issued by the banned militant outfits, purportedly coercing voters to support the National People’s Party (NPP) candidate in the Assembly elections.
Emerging reports in the local press lists instances of intimidation, with militants allegedly wielding firearms to compel individuals to pledge their support for NPP candidate, Thangwang Wangham.
Additionally, there are emerging accounts of BJP members or workers being directly targeted by the militants, confronted with ultimatums to back the NPP candidate or “face severe repercussions”.
Earlier reports from April 16 shed light on similar incidents, detailing coercive tactics deployed by militants to sway support towards a specific candidate in the insurgency-prone Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to local media reports, villages within the Longding Pumao assembly constituency have been subjected to a campaign of fear, with leaflets circulating to convey alleged threats.
Moreover, armed militants have been sighted in villages including Niuasa, Longkhaw, Mintong, and Longphong, where residents are allegedly being intimidated at gunpoint to endorse the NPP candidate, Wangham.
As authorities launched an investigation, the precise motive behind the abduction remains under scrutiny.
