Indian Tribal News Service
Guwahati/New Delhi
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday (December 6) said the vehicle with civilians had been signaled to stop but when it tried to flee it was fired upon by the commandos who had laid an ambush for insurgents in the suspected area.
Making a statement in Lok Sabha, and later in Rajya Sabha, Shah said the Centre regretted the killing of civilians in Nagaland due to mistaken identity and has directed all security agencies to ensure there is no such repeat in future during anti-insurgency operations.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who attended the funeral of the deceased civilians, demanded the removal of the “draconian” AFSPA from the State even as the bandh called by the Naga tribal bodies remained peaceful.
Reading out his statement, Shah said: “Army had received info on movement of extremists in Oting, Mon. On that basis, 21 commandos laid an ambush in suspected area. A vehicle reached there, it was signalled to stop but it tried to flee. On suspicion of the vehicle carrying extremists, it was fired upon.
“Six out of the eight people in the vehicle died. It was later found to be a case of mistaken identity. Two others who were injured were taken to nearest health centre by Army. After receiving news of this, local villagers surrounded the Army unit, set 2 vehicles on fire and attacked them
“As a result, one jawan of the security forces died and many other jawans got injured. Security forces had to resort to firing for self-defence and to disperse crowd. This caused death of 7 more civilians, and left some others injured. Local administration and police tried to bring the situation to normalcy
“After the incident, on December 5 evening, an agitated crowd of around 250 people vandalised the company operating base (COB) of Assam Rifles in Mon city and set the COB building on fire. Assam Rifles had to fire bullets to disperse the crowd. This caused death of one more civilian.
“Current situation is tense but under control. On 5th Dec, DGP & Commissioner Nagaland visited the site. An FIR has been registered and keeping the seriousness in mind, probe has been handed over to State Crime Police Station. An SIT has been formed and it has been directed to complete probe within a month.
“Situation was monitored yesterday (December 5). MHA immediately sent Additional Secretary incharge of the northeast to Kohima where he today held a meeting with the Chief Secretary, other senior officials and senior officials of the paramilitary forces. The situation was reviewed in detail.”
The government of India expresses deep regret over the unfortunate incident in and also expresses deep sympathies to the bereaved families, he said. Earlier, Opposition leaders raised the issue in the Parliament and also demanded the statement of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Ahead of the start of the House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with his senior ministers in the Parliament to discuss the incident.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that the Centre has given an ex-gratia amount of Rs 11 lakh each and the state government has given Rs 5 lakh each to the families of those deceased.
The CM said that he has spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and that he is taking the matter very seriously.
Rio also urged the Centre to remove the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from the state. AFSPA confers special powers on the armed forces in areas deemed as disturbed.
“We have given financial assistance to affected families. We are asking the Central government to remove AFSPA from Nagaland. It is a draconian law. This law has blackened the image of our country,”
Rio told reporters.
The Bandh called by several Naga tribal bodies as a mark of protest passed off peacefully. The Students Federation of Nagaland has called for observance of 5-day mourning.
