Thirteen villagers were killed on Saturday in a case of "mistaken identity" during a counter-insurgency operation in Oting village in Mon district of Nagaland, said sources. A security force jawan was also killed in the incident. Another villager died on Sunday as a mob attacked the Assam Rifles camp.
The Nagaland government has formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police to probe the incident. The case has been transferred to the crime branch police station. A murder case has also been filed.
All activities of the state's signature Hornbill festival have been cancelled till tomorrow night, government sources say.
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, while appealing for calm, said that a high-level Special Investigation Team will probe it.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is to speak on the incident in Parliament today; Mr Shah will speak in the Lok Sabha at 3 pm and in the Rajya Sabha an hour later. The opposition, meanwhile, has served multiple adjournment notices this morning, demanding detailed discussions.
Here are the Highlights on Nagaland civilian deaths:
A five-member Trinamool Congress delegation, including Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, will be visiting Nagaland tomorrow to meet the families of those who died and got injured in the firing incident at Moh district on Saturday, said Trinamool Congress.
A day after the reported killings of civilians by security forces in Oting village in the Mon district of Nagaland, Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland, Tokheho Yepthomi on Sunday said that even if the security forces had received information about the movement of insurgent groups, they should have examined the inputs meticulously.
While speaking to ANI today, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) MP said, "In the last 25 years, all the Naga national groups are engaged in a dialogue with the Central Government. It is said that security forces have received some info about the movement of insurgent groups. I can''t totally rule this out, but, even if such information was there, the security forces should have meticulously examined the inputs."
"It is tantamount to war crimes during peacetime and amounts to summary execution as well as genocide," Nagaland state BJP president Temjen Imma Along said about the killing of 15 people, including 14 civilians and one special forces personnel, in a counter-insurgency operation that went awry on Saturday.
The Mon area is the bastion of Naga group NSCN(K) and Assam's ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) and the district which shares an international border with Myanmar as well as the state border with Assam. The area is known to be sensitive and volatile.
Thirteen villagers and a soldier were killed near Myanmar border in Nagaland as a counter-insurgency operation went awry today, sources said. Union minister Amit Shah said a Special Investigation Team appointed by the state will probe the matter.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, appealing for calm, tweeted this morning about the "unfortunate incident" that led to "killing of civilians" in the state. The Chief Minister said that a high-level Special Investigative Team will probe it.