NSCN (K) militant who escaped from jail after killing guard arrested in Tirap district

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh police, in a joint operation with Assam Rifles and CRPF on Monday, apprehended one militant of the Niki Sumi-led faction of the NSCN (K), who, along with another rebel, escaped from Khonsa Jail in Tirap district by killing a security guard on duty.

After a week-long search operation in various places, a team of state task force (STF), Assam Rifles, and CRPF apprehended Rocksen Homcha from an abandoned building at Bogapani in the district on Monday morning, a senior police officer said. A manhunt for the other accused, Tiptu Kitnya, is on, Arunachal Pradesh Police spokesperson Rohit Rajbir Singh said.

Based on intelligence inputs, an operation was launched on Sunday to apprehend the two escaped under-trial prisoners by the joint team, the spokesperson said. The entire area was cordoned off by 8 p.m. on Sunday, and after an extensive search was conducted in all the suspected hideouts, the rebel was arrested from an abandoned building on Monday morning, Singh said. “The AK-47, which was snatched by Rocksen from Constable Wangniam Bosai before killing him, was recovered from the arrested rebel along with 17 rounds of ammunition, the spokesperson said.

Roksen and Tiptu, who were lodged at Khonsa jail, snatched the service rifle from constable Wangnyam Bosai and fired upon him on March 27. Bosai, who was shot in the stomach, died on the way to a hospital in Assam’s Dibrugarh district. Kitniya, who hails from Kharsang in Changlang district, was an undertrial prisoner, and Roksen, a native of Borduria village in Tirap district, was serving his sentence for murder. The state police had announced a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each for information about the two militants who escaped from jail.