Former Arunachal Pradesh MLA Yumsem Matey was shot dead by a suspected militant in the state’s Tirap district on Saturday, reported PTI.

Matey, 54, was a former Congress MLA from the Khonsa West constituency.

Tirap Superintendent of Police Rahul Gupta said that Matey, along with his three associates, had gone to the Raho village near the Indo-Myanmar border. Around 2 pm, an unknown person approached him and led him towards a jungle, leaving the others behind. Nearly 30 minutes later, gunshots were heard by Matey’s associates, reported Hindustan Times.

The attacker then escaped across the border to Myanmar, according to NDTV. The police have launched a search operation to nab the culprit.

Matey was elected as the Khonsa West MLA on a Congress ticket in 2009 and 2014. He switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015 but lost the 2019 Assembly elections. He had earlier this year announced his plans to contest Assembly elections in 2024.