Nagaland Killings: Home Minister Amit Shah said Centre regrets the death of 14 civilians.
Home Minister Amit Shah told parliament today that the Centre regrets the death of 14 civilians in a counter-insurgency operation of the army in Nagaland on Saturday that went horribly wrong. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) would inquiry into the incident and give its report in one month, he said.
"The situation is tense but under control," Amit Shah said in a statement on the incident, speaking over opposition slogan-shouting that ended with a walk-out in the Rajya Sabha.
"The Government of India sincerely regrets this unfortunate incident in Nagaland and expresses its deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives," he said.
Mr Shah said all agencies must ensure that such an incident does not recur.
The SIT investigation, he said, would identify loopholes in the security strategy at a time when hundreds of members of the security forces are patrolling Mon district. "Such misfortunate incidents are being investigated by the army at the highest level," he said.
Moments after he finished his statement in the Rajya Sabha, the Deputy Chairman adjourned the House for the day as opposition members kept up protests over the suspension of 12 MPs.
The opposition had earlier demanded statements from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the killing of a group of labourers mistaken for terrorists.
Opposition MPs in both Houses also cautioned the centre against leaving Nagaland in "uncertainty" amid peace talks with different hostile groups in the state.
MPs also demanded to know how intelligence agencies could have provided misleading inputs.
On Saturday, 14 villagers and a soldier died in Nagaland's Mon district after an Army op to track down insurgents went off script. A police FIR has said the Army's 21 Para Special Forces "blankly opened fire".
"In self defence and to disperse the crowd, forces had to open fire in which seven civilians were killed," Amit Shah said.
The Army has also expressed deep regret for the "unfortunate loss of lives" and said the matter would be investigated at the "highest level".
The army had laid an ambush on the basis of faulty tips about the likely movement of insurgents.