GUWAHATI: Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday appealed to everyone to be cautious while making statements on missing Arunachal Pradesh teenager Miram Taron, considering the boy's safety and safe return.
He wrote on Twitter that since the individual was missing from an area close to LAC, Indian Army had immediately approached the Chinese side on January 19, asking for assistance in tracing and return of the boy, in case he had strayed into the Chinese territory or the People's Liberation Army (PLA) took him into its custody.
He said the Chinese side had assured him that they would search for the boy and return him as per established protocol.
The minister said on January 20, the Chinese side intimated about finding a boy and sought further details to establish identity.
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He said in order to assist the Chinese side in corroborating the identity, personal details and photo of the individual was shared by the Indian Army. Response from the Chinese side is awaited, he said.
"We are constantly following the case from day one. I appeal to everyone to be cautious in making statements which are not based on facts because the safety and safe return of our young Arunachal Pradesh youth is the priority," Rijiju tweeted.
Meanwhile, the family of the boy is anxiously waiting for his return. His father, Opang Taron, told The New Indian Express that he had been in constant touch with the Army and the district administration but there were no updates. He said he had shared the Aadhar details of his son with the Army as sought.
"The Army officers told me the PLA has found a missing boy from Arunachal. They could not give me further updates," Opang said.
"We are anxiously waiting to receive him. We all in the family celebrate Republic Day together by hoisting the national flag and distributing sweets but it will be a low-key affair this January 26," he added.