ITANAGAR, March 30 - In what appeared to be a poll related violent incident, a supporter of the National People�s Party (NPP) was allegedly mercilessly beaten to death and another critically injured by an NSCN (IM) member and his group in a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh.
The incident happened at Kheti village in Tirap, one of insurgency-infested districts of the State, on Friday night.
The deceased has been identified as Jaley Anna. The injured man, Khamney Aboh, who was a friend of late Anna, was rushed to a Dibrugarh hospital for improved treatment.
According to information, Anna was a die-hard supporter of the NPP candidate Tirong Aboh, who is contesting from Khonsa West Assembly constituency.
It was reported that some unknown people came to the houses of Jaley Anna and Khamney Aboh of Kheti village around 9.30 pm last night and took them away from the village and beat them severely. They then dropped the victims back near their village at around 10.30 pm.
The villagers immediately took them to Khonsa District Hospital but Jaley Anna succumbed to the merciless beating by one Eli Ketok of NSCN (IM) and his group. The name of Eli Ketok was mentioned by Jaley Anna in his dying statement.
An FIR has been lodged at Khonsa Police Station by the deceased�s wife Chathien Anna and district NPP president Naklam Besai.
Arunachal Pradesh NPP spokesperson Nima Sangey Saling, while strongly condemning the incident, on Saturday appealed to all the political parties �not to involve any kind of underground elements in electoral politics�.
Asserting that peace was the key to bring about all round development of the State, he said: �In the interest of the people of Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in particular and Arunachal Pradesh in general, the State NPP urge upon all the political parties not to involve any kind of underground elements in electoral politics. Rather we should try to gain the sympathy of the people through our hard work and connect with the grassroot people with our clear vision of development, peace and harmony in the society�, he added.
