ITANAGAR, 22 Dec: Various student organisations under the aegis of the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union on Friday staged a rally here to protest the killing of former Congress MLA Yumsem Matey.
Denouncing the act of rebel groups in Tirap, Changlang and Longding (TCL) districts, hundreds of students marched from Akashdeep complex to the Raj Bhavan, holding anti-insurgency banners and placards.
The protesting students later submitted a five-point memorandum to Governor KT Parnaik.
The demands of the student organisations include securing peace and normalcy in the TCL region, and fast-tracking the investigation into the murder through the NIA.
They also demanded sealing of the international border with Myanmar, and expelling of insurgent groups to secure peace in the TCL region, besides deployment of three battalions of armed forces to check cross-border crimes in all three districts.
The state government on Thursday decided to transfer the case relating to the brutal killing of Matey to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The government has requested the union home ministry to take up the matter with the NIA to probe the incident, following a request from the state police department, Home Department Deputy Secretary Likha Sampu said in a statement here.
On 16 December, Matey was shot dead by unknown assailants near the Indo-Myanmar border in Lazu circle of Tirap district.
Matey, a former Congress legislator, along with three of his supporters had gone to the village for some personal work when someone took him towards a jungle on some pretext and fired at him, killing him on the spot.
The NIA has been tasked by the state government to bring the culprits involved in the gruesome killing of the former MLA to justice.
In Tirap, the All Tirap District Students’ Union organised a protest rally in Khonsa, seeking justice for late Matey.
People from various organisations, including the Tirap Changlang Longding People’s Forum, the Nocte Chief Council, the All Tirap GB Association, the Ollo Welfare Association, the All Tutsa Welfare Society, the Tirap Women Association, the Nocte Mother Association, the All Tutsa Students’ Union, the Nocte Students’ Union and the Ollo Students’ Union, joined the protest rally, shouting slogans and displaying placards reading ‘Autonomous is the only way for peace in TCL districts’, ‘We demand complete border fencing with Myanmar’, ‘No more killing No more kidnapping,’ etc.
They appealed to the prime minister and the chief minister to take strong action against the perpetrators of the dastardly act and unearth the truth behind Matey’s killing. (With PTI input)
