JOIN USNagaland SIT questions army men involved in killing of civilians
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Nagaland government on Thursday started questioning a group of army men, who were part of the botched operation on December 4, in which 13 civilians were gunned down near Oting village in Mon district.
Although the army refused to talk about it, sources said that a six-member team of the SIT questioned two officers and six jawans of the 21 Special Para Forces of the army at the Rainforest Research Institute in Jorhat in neighbouring Assam. The questioning will continue on Friday too, the source said.
The questioning began on a day the Centre extended the disturbed area tag and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in Nagaland for another six months. This was done despite strong demand for its repeal by the Nagaland government and civil society organisations.
The 21 Special Para Force is stationed in Jorhat and the source said that at least 25 personnel including officers were part of the operation carried out on December 4. Six residents of Oting village were gunned down by the army team while they were returning from their worksite in a coal mine on December 4 afternoon. Seven others were similarly killed a little later when people from Oting village rushed to the site and clashed with the army team after seeing the bullet-ridden bodies. One army man was also killed by villagers.
The killing triggered anger and outrage across Nagaland and elsewhere and intensified demand for repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 from Nagaland. The Centre has constituted a committee to take a decision on whether the AFSPA can be withdrawn from Nagaland.
Nagaland government set up the SIT to investigate the killings while the army also ordered a court of inquiry to punish those involved in the incident. A team of the army's court of inquiry visited the incident site on Wednesday for information related to the killings.
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