Representative image of a police officer.
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Itanagar: Days after the Yung Aung faction of the banned militant outfit NSCN-K claimed responsibility for the murder of former Arunachal Pradesh legislator Yumsen Matey earlier this month, the state government announced a cash reward for information on the whereabouts of the mastermind behind the killing.
The former Congress lawmaker was shot dead by gunmen at Raho village in Tirap district along the India-Myanmar border on December 16.
Tirap SP Rahul Gupta announced on Friday a cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh for information on the whereabouts of Tonglu Akham Hasik, the self-styled brigadier of Naga Army No 130076 of the outfit, who was allegedly involved in the gruesome murder of Matey.
In a statement on Thursday, the outfit claimed that Matey was killed due to his 'active involvement in anti-NSCN activities'.
The statement further elaborated, "He was masterminding anti-NSCN propaganda in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh. He conspired against the NSCN/GPRN."
The outfit clarified that "this case is not in any way related to the upcoming Arunachal Pradesh state assembly election, as some suspected, because the NSCN/GPRN will never meddle in state politics."
Matey, along with three of his supporters, had gone to the village for some personal work when someone lured the former MLA towards a jungle and shot him.
Matey was elected as an MLA from Khonsa West assembly constituency on a Congress ticket in 2009.
He joined the BJP in 2015 and earlier this year, declared his willingness to contest the assembly polls in 2024. Before entering politics, he had served as an adult education officer in Changlang district.
On December 21, the state government decided to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Subsequently, the state home department forwarded the case to the ministry of home affairs for appropriate direction to the NIA in this matter.
According to official data, of the 239 insurgency-related fatalities in the state since March 2000, 183 have been reported in the Tirap-Changlang-Longding (TCL) region.