DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 4 (MExN): One NSCN (K) cadre was killed in an Army operation in Longding district in Arunachal Pradesh on September 4. A media release from the Defence Public Relations Officer, Kohima, informed that security forces exchanged gunfire with armed NSCN (K) cadres camping at a “temporary hideout” near Votnu village on Monday morning. Conducting a search operation following inputs about presence of NSCN (K) cadres near the village, the release claimed that a column of security personnel came under fire from cadres hiding in a temporary camp. One of the cadres was killed and another injured in the retaliatory fire, the release stated. “Using the cover of dense vegetation… the remaining militants escaped,” the release informed, while adding that a search operation was launched to capture the militants on the run. An AK 47 assault rifle along with ammunition was recovered from the slain cadre and the temporary shelter was destroyed, it maintained. Meanwhile, the IANS quoted Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat terming the day’s action as “routine operation” within Indian territory. “It is a normal, routine operation. Such operations happen every day. There’s nothing big about them,” General Rawat was quoted telling reporters at New Delhi on Monday. The comment from General Rawat comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Myanmar from September 5 to 7. Longding district in Arunchal Pradesh, where the fire fight occurred, shares boundary with Myanmar to the south and south-east. With inputs from IANS
