Togley Singkam, a resident of Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, was abducted by the Chinese PLA soldiers in March and released after intervention by the Indian side in April. Togley Singkam is 21 and earns his livelihood in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh working as a porter. He is a resident of Taksing area that lies along the India-China border.
Owing his
superior knowledge of the terrain, he occasionally assists the government and
military authorities in ferrying essentials in this remote area which earns him
some additional money. His life took a turn on March 19 this year - months
before India-China military faceoff began along the Line of Actual Control in
Ladakh - as he was abducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
He was
moving around the area when he was he was taken captive by the PLA troops, who
had crossed the Line of Actual Control. Within seconds, Togley Singkam was
forced to bend on knees, his hands tied to his neck and eyes blindfolded. He
was released on April 7. Togley Singkam recounted his horrible experience of
being a prisoner of the PLA while speaking to India Today TV.
AS
CHINA'S CAPTIVE
"I was
in Indian territory on 19th March. I go in that area regularly for hunting to
get food and we eat that. That was when the PLA officials came and whisked me
away. I could not run away because they were in huge numbers."
"They
made me sit on the floor, tied my hands at the back with the neck, wrapped my
face and took me away. When my eyes opened then I was in a Chinese camp. I was
then tied to a bed and beaten up. I was taken in another vehicle to some other
place. My face was covered and I was beaten up again," Togley Singkam told
India Today TV.
Togley was
taken into Chinese vehicle into their territory. When he opened his eyes he
found himself sitting in a wooden chair in a stark dark room. He was subjected
to kicking, slapping and electric shocks by the PLA abductors.
"I was
kept in a dark room for entire 15 days. I was not allowed to close my eyes.
Slapping, beating, shocks...everything was there," he recounted.
"For 15
days, I was made to sit in a chair and not allowed to close my eyes for even
fraction of a second. My condition was so bad that I could not tell daytime
from night. I was given electric shocks and forced to confess that I am a spy
of the Indian Army. They used to beat me randomly," he said.
The torture did not end here.
"I was
given packaged food and only allowed to get up for using toilet. My hands were
clipped to the chair all the time. No one can sit without closing eyes for such
long time. But they gave me electric shocks if I did. But, I did not give up
even after that," he said.
There are
boards along the India-China border which are put up at certain strategic
locations to identify the Indian territory to keep locals safe and secure in
the boundary.
This has
irked the People's Liberation Army of China which even tried matching his
handwriting with pictures of these boards in order to gather "prove"
that Togley Singkam was a part of the intelligence system of India.
"They
did my handwriting test also. I was given sheets to write because they wanted
to ensure if I was the one writing along the border and putting up boards at
some places. This was to check during patrolling if I was the one who had
written India in the newly put up boards. This was a handwriting test and they
made me write India on sheets of paper...but my hand writings did not match
with any of the boards they compared," Togley Singkam said.
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