Officials said that the 30 soldiers, including an officer, had fled to Tuipang village in Mizoram’s Siaha district on Tuesday after their camps at Motupi in Chin state were captured by armed pro-democracy forces.
“Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters on Wednesday afternoon airlifted the 30 soldiers from Mizoram’s Siaha district to Manipur’s Moreh town, where they were handed over to Myanmar’s military authority,” an official closely involved in the process told Ajit Weekly News.
He said that after completing necessary formalities, including biometric process, the Indian authorities handed over the 30 soldiers to Myanmar Army officers at Tamu (opposite Moreh border) in the neighbouring country.
The border town of Moreh, 110 km south of Imphal, is the biggest border trading centre along the India-Myanmar border.
Since November 13, 74 Myanmar Army soldiers, including officers, had fled to the Indian territory in different phases after their camps in Chin state were captured by the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF), the armed wing of the Chin National Organisation (CNO).
The soldiers were apprehended by the Mizoram police in Champhai district before being handed over to the Assam Rifles. All the 74 soldiers have been repatriated to Myanmar through the Moreh-Tamu border.
Besides soldiers, over 2,500 Myanmarese, including women and children, took shelter in Mizoram’s Champhai district during the past two weeks following the gunfight between Myanmar’s Tatmadaw (military) and CNDF cadres.
The district administration has provided food and relief materials to the refugees. Necessary medical aid has also been provided to them.
The first influx from Myanmar happened in February 2021 after the Military junta seized power there.
Since then, 32,000 people, including women and children, have taken shelter in the northeastern state from Myanmar.
Mizoram’s six districts — Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual — share 510 km unfenced border with Myanmar’s Chin state.
–Ajit Weekly News
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