Three road construction workers were abducted by suspected cadres of the Yung Aung-led National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) faction from the Arunachal Pradesh-Nagaland border on Monday night, triggering the launch of a massive search operation involving police and army personnel along the inter-state border.

However, one of the abducted worker — a local resident — was released on Tuesday. The other two workers, one each from Assam and Bihar, are still in captivity.

The kidnapped workers have been identified as Banphua Wangpan, 32, from Longding district (Arunachal), Hiren Konch, 31, from Dibrugarh district (Assam) and Ramashis Mahato, 35 from Bihar.

A statement released by the Longding district police on Wednesday evening said a five-six suspected member group of the NSCN (KYA) kidnapped the trio engaged in road construction between Longkhaw and Pumao villages under the Longding district but released Wangpan, hailing from Longkhaw village, few kilometres from Pumao, the next day.

“Sri Banphua Wangpan has since returned on 01/02/2022, whereas the two other persons are still under the captivity of the UG outfit. It is suspected that the motive of the abduction might be for ransom,” the statement said.

An official from Longding told The Telegraph on Thursday: “A massive combing operation has been launched on either side of the Assam and Nagaland border by police and army personnel but there has been no breakthrough till now. There also has been no demand for ransom so far.”

The trio were engaged by a local road construction company. The abduction site is close to both Myanmar and Mon district.

An Assam government official said they have established contact with the family of Konch who hails from Tingkhong, about 40km from Dibrugarh town, and were “hopeful” of his early release.

Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district borders Myanmar, Assam and Nagaland.

The NSCN (KYA) is not part of the ongoing talks between the Naga militant groups and the Centre to end the decades old Naga insurgency and is active in the bordering areas, including Nagaland’s Mon district where 14 civilians were killed on December 4 and 5 in a botched counter-insurgency operations at Oting and its aftermath, triggering widespread demand for withdrawal of the contentious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.

The outfit has been involved in kidnapping cases and ambushing security personnel in the past.

Last November, three suspected NSCN (KYA) cadres were killed in an encounter with the Assam Rifles near the Indo-Myanmar border in Longding district.

The National Investigation Agency had in March last year charge sheeted four cadres of the outfit in connection with an ambush on an Assam Rifles patrol on May 25, 2019 in Mon district that left two Assam Rifles personnel dead and four injured.