'Sandwiched in fear of militants and armymen,' say Arunachal villagers after youths shot at by army

Nokphua Wangpan and six of his friends were returning from a relaxed evening of fishing in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district when troops of the army's 21 para commandos stopped them, suspecting them to be militants. They were allowed to go after questioning but minutes later, the army men fired at them from behind, leaving Nokphua and Ramwang Wangsu injured.

"We repeatedly told them that we are not militants but residents of Chasa village. We are still clueless why they fired at us," a friend of Nokphua told DH requesting anonymity. "If you write my name, they may come to my home again," he said.

Nokphua's leg was shot while Ramwang, 24, has bullet injuries on his elbow. Both were airlifted to neighbouring Assam by the army for treatment.

Also read: Two villagers 'mistakenly' shot at by Army in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district

The army did not issue any clarification about the incident but Major James, who led the unit posted at Khonsa was seen in a video shared on social media admitting that it was a case of "mistaken identity". He assured that the injured were provided treatment by the army and will be compensated. "We are ready to give in writing that it was our mistake," the Major said in the video shot by villagers, who rushed to the area after the firing.

An FIR was lodged by family members of one of the injured youths at Khonsa police station. "Both cultivate beetle leaves to run their families. If they become disabled, who will run their families?" asked Leamkai Wangpan, a student from Chasa village, told DH on Sunday.

"This is not the first such case here. Three years ago, a man and his minor son were killed in an army encounter after militants had taken shelter in his home. We are sandwiched in fear of both militants and security forces. We can't say no to militants coming for shelter. If we say no, militants may kill us. And if we give them shelter out of fear, army people will come and harass for assisting the militants," said Wangpan.

He said that one panchayat leader in Chasa village was beaten to death by NSCN-IM militants in 2017 who warned them not to file an FIR.

Puchang Wangsu, the village headman of Chasa told DH that villagers were angry over the incident. "The major promised us that the families will be compensated. But all promises made after similar incidents in the past have not been fulfilled yet," he said.

Chasa has nearly 4,000 residents, mostly belonging to Nokte tribe.

The firing took place a day after the Centre decided to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 from several districts in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. A notification issued by MHA on April 1 said Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts and areas falling under Namsai and Mahadevpur police stations in Namsai district would still remain under the AFSPA.

"It is up to the government whether they want to withdraw AFSPA or not but there must be clear guidelines to prevent such an incident against innocent civilians," Wangpan said.

Tirap is a district sharing a border with Myanmar, where security forces have recently intensified operations against "activities" of NSCN-IM, a militant group in neighbouring Nagaland. The NSCN-IM is in a ceasefire since 1997 and talks are ongoing but security forces say that the ceasefire is not applicable in Arunachal Pradesh, further alleging that NSCN-IM was resorting to unlawful activities in the state.

In an emailed statement to DH on Sunday, NSCN-IM alleged that Assam Rifles was "harassing" their members and leaders in Arunachal Pradesh and thereby "violating the spirit" of their talks with the Centre.

The Northeast witnessed strong protest against the army after 13 civilians were gunned down on December 5 last year at Oting village in the Mon district of Nagaland, where AFSPA is still in place.

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