Itanagar, Dec 22 – The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to hand over the case relating to the assassination of former MLA Yumsem Matey to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a Home Department official said on Friday.
The official said that the state government has decided to transfer the murder case to the NIA following a proposal from the police authority.
The 55-year-old former Congress legislator was abducted and then shot dead in a nearby jungle by unidentified assailants at Lazu circle of Tirap district, near the Indo-Myanmar border, on December 15.
Matey, along with three of his associates, had gone to Lazu for some social activity when some armed assailants abducted him at gunpoint on some pretext and killed him after some time.
While the police declined to comment on the identity of the attackers, a source hinted at the involvement of NSCN-KYA militants.
Before being elected to the Assembly from the Khonsa West Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket in 2009, Matey had served as the adult education officer in Changlang district. The slain MLA was also Congress’ Parliamentary Secretary before joining the ruling BJP in 2015.
According to officials, out of the 239 insurgency-related fatalities in Arunachal Pradesh since March 2000, 183 have occurred in three districts — Tirap, Changlang and Longding region, which are besieged by insurgency problems and are under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).
In recent times, the area has been witnessing a rise in extortion and abduction cases. Used as a transit route for several banned militant groups of Assam and Nagaland, Tirap, Longding and Changlang share a porous border with Myanmar.
In 2019, the National People’s Party MLA, Tirong Aboh from Khonsa West Assembly constituency, along with 10 others were killed by suspected militants.
Meanwhile, various students’ organisations, led by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) on Friday staged a rally in Itanagar to protest the killing of the former MLA and submitted a five-point memorandum to Governor Lt Gen K. T. Parnaik (retd).
The demands include securing peace and normalcy in Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) region, to fast track the investigation of the MLA killing case through NIA.
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