B'desh outfit KNF-C denies links to American couple detained at Lengpui airport

Aizawl: Kuki-Chin National Front - Chittagong (KNF-C) has issued a rebuttal regarding the detention of an American married couple at Mizoram's Lengpui airport on May 2, stating that the group has no link with the couple, contrary to reports in some mainstream Indian media houses.

In a press statement sent to TOI on Tuesday, the KNF-C refuted allegations that the Bangladesh-based outfit, which is fighting for autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, has any political ties or relation with the American couple detained at Lengpui airport and deported the following day. The group called the accusations "completely false and baseless".

The statement further claimed that the allegations were part of a conspiracy aimed at maligning the group by certain vested interests.

According to the KNF-C, the couple had planned to travel to Lawngtlai district in southern Mizoram to provide humanitarian aid and healthcare to refugees and asylum seekers from Bangladesh who have taken shelter there. The statement clarified that although the couple was Bangladeshi by birth, they have been working in America with a religious organisation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for a long time. The KNF-C said it has no connection with them in terms of meeting refugees or their relatives.

The American couple, identified as Walter Frederick Kuhn and Sahron Clodfelter Kuhn, landed at Lengpui airport without possessing the mandatory protected area permit on May 2. Intelligence officials, who had prior information about their arrival, detained them, and they were deported the next day.

While officials stated that the Kuhns are not known to have any connection with rebel groups, some media organisations, citing unnamed agencies, alleged that they had entered Mizoram to meet Nathan Hlawncheu Bawm, the founder of the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) — an armed group of ethnic Mizos, primarily from the Bawm tribe, residing in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Reports suggested that Nathan Hlawncheu Bawm was present in Lawngtlai district, near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

However, intelligence officials who detained the couple said they had no information regarding any alleged ties between the Kuhns and the KNF or its armed wing, the KNA. They clarified that the couple was detained and deported solely for not holding the mandatory PAP, which is required for foreigners visiting Mizoram following the withdrawal of the protected area regime relaxation by the ministry of home affairs in Dec last year.