DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 16 (MExN): The NSCN (IM) issued a statement on September 14 in connection to the killing of one cadre in an encounter with the Assam Rifles in Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh on September 13. The statement to the media from its Ministry of Information and Publicity (MIP), clarified that contrary to the media reports, the slain cadre was not one of theirs. It said that the victim was once in the NSCN (IM) before defecting to the NSCN-K (Niki). The MIP statement said that his name was Kiutsiithong Jangrii alias Thongtsi alias Athrong alias James, who joined the NSCN (IM) in November 2018 in the rank of 2nd lieutenant, bearing “Army No.AB-11993, Naga Army.” “In 2020 he vanished from NSCN radar. Later we learnt that he had defected to Niki group and given the rank of Lieutenant. This is, therefore, a clarification that he no longer has any connection with NSCN whatsoever,” it said.
