NHPC's top executive rescued 50 days after abduction in Assam

NHPC Limited's general manager Anil Kumar Agarwal, who was abducted by Bodo militants on September 21 from Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, was finally rescued yesterday evening by a joint team of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh police after a brief gunfight with the militants.

Agarwal, who is the project head of NHPC's  600 MW Tawang Chu-I project, was abducted by Songbijit-faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in Sonitpur district near the interstate border while he was on his way from Tawang, a town in western Arunachal Pradesh bordering China, to Guwahati.

Yesterday, on the basis of specific information, a joint Assam and Arunachal Pradesh police team, headed by the SP of Sonitpur district, launched an operation on the militants at Maldang jungle bordering Arunachal Pradesh. In the ensuing gunfight, four militants  and a police personnel were injured. Police sources said Agarwal was not injured during the gunfight and was rescued in good health. Soon he was admitted to Kanaklata civil hospital in Tezpur, headquarters of Sonitpur district where he underwent a thorough medical check-up.

Following the abduction of Agarwal, Arunachal Pradesh issued a travel advisory asking people to avoid travelling after sunset along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border which is infested by Bodo militants.