30 Army Personnel Charged for “Indiscriminate Firing” in Nagaland Botched up Incident

NEW DELHI, June 11: The Nagaland police has named 30 Indian army personnel, including an officer and 29 soldiers, in the charge-sheet filed in connection to the botched up security ambush that led to the death of six civilians in Nagaland’s Mon district in December last year. The sanction of prosecution in the case, however, is still awaited.

The personnel of the 21 Para SF have been accused of “not following the Standard Operating Procedure and the Rules of Engagement” and resorting to “indiscriminate and disproportionate firing.” This had led to the “immediate killing of the six occupants of the vehicle on the spot and grievously injuring two persons,” Nagaland DGP T John Longkumer said at a press conference in Kohima on Saturday.

The accused has been booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, among others.

On December 4, 2021, the security forces had in a case of “mistaken identity” shot at a pickup truck with a group of eight miners aboard in eastern Nagaland’s Oting village. While six had died on the spot, two survived. Seven more civilians and a security personnel died in the retaliatory violence that followed.

Following the incident, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had told the Lok Sabha that the truck carrying the labourers was signalled to stop but was fired upon only when it “tried to flee.” However, the survivors had countered the statement, saying there was no signal to stop. The incident led to major outrage in Nagaland, and a renewed push to remove the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the state.

The 30 have been named in the charge-sheet by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the Nagaland government in December 2021, to probe the incident.

The police said the 21 Para SF team, comprising 31 Army personnel led by a major rank officer, had launched an operation in the Oting-Tiru area based on an intelligence input about the presence of cadres of the banned NSCN K-YA and ULFA.

According to the SIT’s investigation, the operation team had, “without ensuring positive identification”, shot at a white Bolero which was carrying eight civilians from Oting village. “Investigation has revealed that the Op team had not followed the Standard Operating Procedure and the Rules of Engagement and resorted to indiscriminate and disproportionate firing leading to immediate killing of the six occupants of the vehicle on the spot and grievously injuring two persons,” the Nagaland police said in statement Saturday.

The police further said villagers reached the spot to search for those missing. “They turned violent on discovering the dead bodies and scuffle ensued between the villagers and the operation team members of 21 Para SF. One Paratrooper succumbed to injuries and fourteen personnel from 21 Para SF team sustained injuries. This led Major to order for opening firing at around 22:00 hrs and the op team started to break contact,” the statement added. The charge-sheet was submitted to District & Sessions Court. The police added that a professional and thorough investigation was carried out by the team.

A separate FIR has also been registered at the Tizit police station, under which Oting village falls, to investigate the death of the paratrooper as well as the assault on other personnel of the 21 Para SF, and the loss of government property. The police said the prosecution sanction from the Department of Military Affairs was still awaited. The report seeking sanction had been sent to the department twice — in the first week of April, and followed up with a reminder in May.

Apart from the SIT, a separate team, which is part of the Army’s Court of Inquiry, is also investigating the incident. In a press conference in Guwahati last month, the Army’s Eastern Commander Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita had said the Court of Inquiry was completed and the report was being examined. He assured that requisite action would be taken against those “found to have committed lapses, irrespective of their ranks or who they are.”

(Manas Dasgupta)