Guwahati
More than a year since the tragic incident, it turns out, the Centre has refused to grant permission to the Nagaland police to prosecute 30 Army personnel, involved in the botched-up operation that led to the death of 14 civilians.
The Army men were named in the charge sheet filed by a Nagaland Special Investigation Team (SIT) that investigated the firing in Nagaland’s Mon district.
“The competent authority (Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Government of India) has conveyed its denial to accord sanction for prosecution against all 30 accused,” said a statement by the Nagaland police.
The Union Defence Ministry’s denial of sanction has been conveyed to a court, the police said on Thursday.
On December 4, 2021, six local coal miners at Tiru-Oting area of Mon district were killed by soldiers of the 21 Para Special Forces of the Indian Army.
The Army, which had fired at a pickup truck carrying the miners, claimed it was a case of mistaken identity. Angry villagers, subsequently, set ablaze two security vehicles, sparking off another round of firing by the forces, in which at least seven villagers and one security personnel were killed.
One more civilian was killed in firing by security forces in Mon town the next day.
The State government formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an Inspector General of Police, to probe the incident. The SIT on March 24, 2022, sought the Union Defence Ministry’s sanction to prosecute the 30 Armymen of 21 Para Special Forces.
In its chargesheet against them filed in the court on May 30, 2022, the SIT charged them with murder, attempt to murder and destruction of evidence. It said the miners were “shot with a clear intention to kill”.
The Supreme Court on July 19, 2022, stayed any proceedings in the case after the wives of the accused security forces personnel requested it to cancel the Nagaland police FIR (First Information Report) and the report of the SIT.
The Nagaland police statement said that prosecution sanction from the Centre is required for the initiation of any proceedings against any security force personnel for any action taken by them while discharging their duties under CrPc and Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),
For its part, the Army set up its own independent Court of Inquiry into the incident, assuring action against anyone found guilty. However, the army said it could not take any action as the case was before the Supreme Court.
The incident had led to the calling off of the famed Nagaland Hornbill Festival that was being held after a gap of two years following easing of Covid restrictions.
