Former Arunachal Pradesh MLA Yumsen Matey was shot dead by a suspected militant in a village in Tirap district where he had gone on some personal work on Saturday, reported PTI.
The incident occurred at around 3 PM near Raho village, close to the Myanmar border.
Speaking about the incident, Tirap SP Rahul Gupta said that Matey, along with three of his followers, had gone to the village for some work when someone took him towards a jungle on some pretext and fired at him killing him on the spot.
Police have launched a search operation to find the culprit.
While the SP declined to comment on the identity of the militant, defence sources hinted at the involvement of the NSCN-KYA in the killing, PTI reported.
Matey had won the elections in 2009 on a Congress ticket from the Khonsa West assembly constituency. In 2015, he joined the BJP and had also expressed his desire to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Before entering politics, he served as district adult education officer in Changlang district.
Out of the 239 insurgency-related fatalities in the state since March 2000, 183 have occurred in the Tirap-Changlang-Longding (TCL) region, according to official data.
CM condemns horrific act
Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed condolences, and in a social media post, he wrote, “I am deeply anguished at the demise of former MLA Yumsen Matey and strongly condemn the horrific act. My deepest condolences to the family and I assure that the State Government stands firmly with them in this moment of grief.
The Arunachal Pradesh Police has been asked to expedite investigations and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book soonest possible.”
