This is one India-China story in recent times that has had a happy conclusion. After days of speculation and uncertainty surrounding his whereabouts, a teen from Arunachal Pradesh state who had strayed across the undefined Line of Actual Control with China has been handed over to the Indian Army, India's Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted Thursday. 

"The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination," Rijiju tweeted.

China's People Liberation Army, or PLA, had earlier confirmed that Taron would be repatriated to the Indian side. There was a delay earlier in repatriating him due to bad weather conditions in the mountainous area.

On January 25, Rijiju tweeted a statement that said some people reported that the Chinese PLA has taken Taron into their custody. The minister on Tuesday said the safe return of the boy was a priority and had appealed to the people to be cautious in making speculative and unfounded statements about him.

The teen went missing from an area close to the LAC and the Indian Army had immediately approached the Chinese side on January 19, asking for assistance in tracing and returning the teen, in case the PLA had taken him in their custody.

An eyewitness, Johnny Yuing, who went with Taron on that day, had said, "I went with Miriam for hunting at Siyangla area but due to darkness we couldn't proceed. Suddenly, Chinese PLA came and took Miriam in their captivity. They chased me but I managed to flee the area. I informed the nearest Indian Army check post about the abduction. The next day, I returned to Tuting and informed Miriam's family members and the Indian Army camp at Tuting."

Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh shares the international boundary with China. People from Arunachal Pradesh often go to the interior areas for hunting.

The individual "illegally entered Chinese territory and then was routinely questioned, quarantined and observed in accordance with relevant border control regulations, and given humanitarian assistance," China's Western Theatre Command, Colonel Long Shaohua, said in a statement posted on the official WeChat account of the Western Theatre of the PLA.

China disputes the sovereignty of Arunachal Pradesh and calls it "South Tibet", even recently renaming some of the areas of the state that it claims is part of its territory.

(SAM)