15 people, including 14 civilians and one special forces personnel, have been killed in the district so far.
Thirteen villagers and a soldier were killed at an Indo-Myanmar border district in Nagaland as a counter-insurgency operation went awry on Saturday, Police sources confirmed
Another villager died as a mob attacked the Assam Rifles camp.
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who was in Delhi, is back in the state and will visit Mon tomorrow and meet the locals.
He has already announced that a Special Investigation Team will investigate the matter.
Mobile internet and SMS services have been blocked in the Mon district to stop the circulation of rumours.
Following violence a murder case has also been filed. 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. All activities of the state’s signature Hornbill festival have been cancelled till Monday night, government sources say.
Earlier special forces of the Indian army were set for a counter-insurgency operation in the Mon district that borders Myanmar, sources said.
Following a tip-off about a possible movement of insurgents, they had laid an ambush near Oting village on Saturday afternoon.
But they opened fire on a truck on the Tiru-Oting road, which was carrying villagers, police sources said.
Following firing Six villagers died when the forces opened fire, two died later while being taken to the hospital, sources said.
Soon after, angry locals surrounded the security forces.
Police sources said in the fight aftermath five villagers were killed and six injured as the forces opened fire at the mob in “self-defense”.
Angry villagers then attacked and in that commotion a soldier died and three vehicles of the security forces were also set on fire.
In the evening, the situation turned tense in Mon town as angry protesters surrounded the Assam rifles camp.
Police sources said they broke into the camp and tried to set fire to a portion of it.
A man died in the violence. Assam Rifles has released a statement saying it “deeply regrets” the loss of lives of “our Naga brothers.”
In a statement, the army said: “Based on credible intelligence of likely movement of insurgents, a specific operation was planned to be conducted in the area of Tiru, Mon District, Nagaland. The incident and its aftermath are deeply regretted”.
Union home minister Amit Shah tweeted: “Anguished over an unfortunate incident in Nagaland’s Oting, Mon. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. A high-level SIT constituted by the State govt will thoroughly probe this incident to ensure justice to the bereaved families”.
“The unfortunate incident leading to the killing of civilians at Oting, Mon is highly condemnable. Condolences to the bereaved families & speedy recovery of those injured. High-level SIT will investigate & justice delivered as per the law of the land. Appeal for peace from all sections,” tweeted Chief Minister Rio.
The Mon area is the stronghold of Naga group NSCN(K) and even ULFA and the incident comes during the state’s signature “Hornbill Festival”, which is being attended by several diplomats. The Konyak community, to which the villagers belonged, said it has decided to abstain from any further participation in the Hornbill Festival. Six other tribal groups also said they will not participate.
Following violence Public gathering of more than five people at a time has been banned in the Mon district of Nagaland, and movement of all vehicles of non-essential nature, including commercial vehicles, has been prohibited under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code(CrPc).
This firing by armed militray men over unarmed civilians Not only arouse below main question still remained unanswered..
How long can the Nothern state kashmir and also North Eastern states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur continue to be termed as disturbed areas and therefore be burdened by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act ?!
But many supplement Quetions also pops up ..
Is not this colonial law that the Indian state has used because it is unable to come up with more creative ways of handling internal security.?
How long Union government in India will use the military to maintain internal security?!..
It is not a fact that if given for too long a time then military too develops a vested interest when it is deployed for counter-insurgency operations ?!..
The Naga insurgency started with the birth of this nation and since then the army has operated more often as an alien force dealing with an external enemy. How does it work for forces coming from a different part of the country and posted to a region where people are racially different; speak a different language and have a completely different culture and religion?!
Accounts of army atrocities are still fresh in the memories of octogenarians.
The ongoing Naga Peace talks don’t seem headed anywhere although people’s hopes go up each time after one interlocutor is changed and another takes over.
Should not the ruling establishment take liability for the failures that has been witnessed for longer periods ..
