A suo motu FIR lodged by Nagaland police has claimed that the security forces "blankly opened fired" at villagers in Mon district on Saturday evening without any provocation, resulting in death of several civilians.
The FIR was lodged by Posehu Kezo of Tizit police station, following which a case was registered (027/2021) against the security forces under section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (a crminal act committed by several persons for a common intention) of IPC.
The FIR said the incident took place at around 3.30 pm on Saturday when coal mine labourers of Oting village were returning to their homes from Tiru in a vehicle (Bolero pick-up truck). "On reaching at Longkhao between Upper Tiru and Oting village, security forces blankly opened fire at the vehicle without any provocation resulting in the killing of many Oting villagers and seriously injured many others," said the FIR.
The FIR said there was no police guide nor did security forces make requisition to police station to provide police guide for their operation. "Hence it is obvious that the intention of security forces was to murder and injure civilians," it said while seeking necessary action against the "culprits" and the security forces who were on duty.
Fourteen civilians were killed while an Army man died after other villagers rushed there and clashed with the security forces in anger. Another person was killed on Sunday afternoon when protesters set fire on a camp of Assam Rifles at Mon.
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The three corps of Army issued a statement saying they carried out an operation based on specific intelligence inputs about movement of militants. The Army, however, regretted the incident and the aftermath.
Situation remained tense in Mon and rest of Nagaland on Monday with organisations resorting to six hours (6 am to 12 noon) of shutdown in protest against the killings. The administration clamped curfew and curtailed mobile internet in Mon in order to prevent further spread of violent protest.
The Rights and Risks Analysis Group, a human rights body in New Delhi called for immediate arrest of the accused personnel of the special forces named in the FIR. "Since the FIR names the accused for the mass murder of the civilians, the law must take its own course and the accused ought to be handed over to the police for the offence of murder. Otherwise, mere statements of anguish or formation of a Special Investigation Team or Court of Inquiry are simply not adequate to assuage the outrage against the massacre. The law must be seen to being applied equally to all murder accused," said Suhas Chakma, director the group.
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