Charred bodes of three Mizoram residents found in Myanmar

Mizoram police on March 25 recovers the charred bodies of three residents of the State’s Siaha district from Myanmar.

: The Mizoram police on March 25 recovered charred bodies of the three residents of the State’s Siaha district, who went missing since March 19, from Myanmar.

The three, including a woman, had gone missing after setting out for Myanmar from Ainak, a border village in southern Mizoram’s Siaha district, on March 19.

Also read: Myanmar’s civil war gets too close to India’s border for comfort 

People on either side of the 1,643-km India-Myanmar border can move freely within a 32-km band – 16 km on either side of the line dividing the two countries – despite certain restrictions owing to the civil war in Myanmar. Mizoram shares a 510 km border with Myanmar.

“The charred bodies of the three person, apparently held hostage by miscreants across the border, were recovered from a jungle,” Mizoram’s Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order), Lalbiakthanga Khiangte told The Hindu on March 25.

He did not clarify if the Indian authorities went to Mizoram to recover the three bodies or Myanmar locals helped to deliver them on the international border.

Local police officials said the three Ainak villagers could have been killed for failing to return money owed to arms smugglers, formerly with an extremist group active on either side of the border.