Security forces gun down 14 civilians in botched Nagaland anti-insurgency op

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 5

In a shocking incident of an anti-insurgency operation going wrong, 14 civilians were killed in Nagaland.

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Internet suspended, curfew in Mon district

While six died on Saturday night as they were fired upon by security forces whom the latter mistook as insurgents, seven others were killed in the ensuing violence as angry locals attacked forces which then fired at the protesters.

SIT constituted

A high-level SIT constituted by the state govt will thoroughly probe the incident to ensure justice to bereaved families. Amit Shah, Home Minister

Nagaland cops file Murder case

• A case under Sections 302, 307 and 34 IPC was filed at Tizit station in Mon dist
• The five-member SIT is headed by IGP Limasunep Jamir
• It will submit its findings in one month, say sources
• ADGP Sandeep M Tamgadge will be SIT supervisory officer

Army orders inquiry, expresses regret over incident

• The Army expressed ‘deep regret’ over the incident and ordered court of inquiry (CoI)
• It said the cause of the ‘unfortunate’ loss of lives was being probed at the highest level & appropriate action would be taken
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Gen MM Naravane have been briefed about the incident
• Army officials said the op was carried out on credible intelligence inputs regarding the likely movement of insurgents in the area

Violence continued till Sunday afternoon as angry mobs vandalised the offices of the Konyak Union and an Assam Rifles camp in the area, setting fire to parts of the camp. At least one more person was killed and another two injured, as security forces fired back at attackers. The toll is feared to rise further as some of the injured were in a critical condition.

The first firing took place when a group of coal miners were returning home in a mini truck somewhere between Oting and Tiru villages in Mon district. The security forces had information about the movement of militants belonging to Yung Aung faction of proscribed outfit NSCN (K). Following this, locals clashed with

the security forces, which led to the killing of seven more civilians.

Ordering a court of inquiry into the incident, the Army said one of its personnel was killed and several others were seriously injured. It said the incident and its aftermath was “deeply regretted” and the unfortunate loss of lives was being investigated at the highest level. There was credible intelligence of likely movement of insurgents and a specific operation was planned to be conducted in the Tiru area of Mon, the Army said. It was being probed whether the truck was caught in the cross-fire between forces and insurgents or the truck was mistaken to be the vehicle carrying insurgents.

Separately, the state government has constituted a five-member special investigation team (SIT), headed by the IGP, officials said. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio appealed to all sections of society to maintain peace. He said, “The high-level SIT will investigate and justice will be delivered as per the law of the land.”

The state has banned mobile, internet and data services in Mon district that shares a porous international border with Myanmar, where the Yung Aung faction of the NSCN (K) is based.