The Ang Mai faction of NSCN(K) has abducted a village chief and a 'gaon bura' (village headman) from Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh for not paying levy to the militant outfit, police said on Thursday.

Around 15 militants descended to Chop village around 8.30 pm on Tuesday and abducted the two persons, identified as village headman Chopkhu Gangsa and village chief Chijgsan Wangham, and took them towards neighbouring Myanmar, Londing Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Banghang Tangjang said.

The militants abducted them as they did not pay a levy of Rs 50,000, he said.

The village headman is an official post, while the village chief is a traditional one.

The police and the Assam Rifles have launched a massive operation to trace and rescue the abducted persons, he said.

This was the second incident of abduction by militants in the district this month, with NSCN-KYA rebels having kidnapped two employees of a private construction firm on November 16.

Shashank Yadav, a junior engineer, and Liamgao Pansa, a supervisor of a construction firm, were kidnapped by three armed militants of NSCN-KYA from a camp near Tisa River between Pongchau and Konnu villages in Longding district on November 16. They were working under a contractor for a BRTF project.

However, both were released on November 28.

Though it had been suspected that the motive behind the kidnapping was ransom, it has not been confirmed whether any amount had been paid for their safe release.

On October 29, two brothers, Katwang Wangham, a village chief, and Wangtai Wangsu of Kamhua Noksa village in the district were kidnapped by militants belonging to the NSCN-KYA faction, which had demanded Rs 60 lakh as ransom for their safe release.

After nearly two weeks in captivity, the duo was released on November 9. However, it has not been clear whether the ransom amount had been paid for their release.

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