Ex-Arunachal MP shot dead

Former Arunachal Pradesh Minister and a three-time Lok Sabha Member Wangcha Rajkumar was shot dead by unidentified assailants...

Former Arunachal Pradesh Minister and a three-time Lok Sabha Member Wangcha Rajkumar was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Deomali in Tirap district on Sunday evening. Rajkumar was also an advisor to Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.

Rajkumar (41) was playing badminton at the Deomali Community Hall when an unidentified person, believed to have come on a motorbike, approached him and pumped as many as 17 bullets from an automatic weapon from close range and escaped under the cover of darkness. Rajkumar died on the spot. The incident occurred at around 7:30 pm.

Police officials at Itanagar preferred to remain tight-lipped regarding the identity of the assailants, but sources indicated that the finger of suspicion could be pointed at the NSCN (IM) that is said to be active in Tirap district, adjoining Nagaland on its west.

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“There was a lot of threat perception about Rajkumar and several other leaders for the past few months,” said a police officer. “While both factions of the NSCN are said to be active in the district, that also shares international boundary with Myanmar, the ULFA, too, has a presence here,” he said.

Rajkumar, a senior and influential Congress leader, represented Arunachal Pradesh East Parliamentary constituency in 1996, 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha. He was elected to the State Legislative Assembly in 1995, before being elected to the Lok Sabha.