JOIN US'They shot right at us, no signal to stop, we didn’t flee,' says Nagaland ambush survivor
One of the two survivors of the Nagaland ambush wherein the Army opened fire and killed 14 civilians told The Indian Express that security forces shot right at them and they didn’t try to flee.
Sheiwang, 23, has bullet injuries in his elbows and chest and is admitted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh. 30-year-old Yeihwang, also in the group shot at during the Army operation, is also at the same hospital.
Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha Monday that the vehicle with the miners was “signalled to stop” and was fired upon after “it tried to flee”. Sheiwang’s account contradicts Shah. “We were not signalled to stop. They killed us directly. We were not trying to flee… we were just in the vehicle,” he said.
After working at the coal mine for a week, eight were returning home in a pick-up truck on Saturday. “Suddenly, on the way, we were fired upon. I do not remember how long it lasted, but it was for a while. It sounded like bombs were exploding. It was not even dark, they still shot us,” Sheiwang is quoted as saying in the report.
All those in the vehicle fell to the floor and after the firing, and Shiewang was taken into another vehicle after the shelling stopped. He said he was aware of the others’ deaths, including his brother’s.
“On their way back, they had crossed the Tiru bridge, after which the vehicle descended towards a drain (a large depression in the road). It is here that the vehicle, while moving, was suddenly fired upon. The bullets came from the front as well from the back and continued for about 2-3 minutes,” Sheiwang’s relative Nyemkhah told IE.
A doctor at the hospital told the paper on condition of anonymity that the two survivors were left at the hospital early Sunday. “No one knew who they were, where they came from,” he said. There was a rumour in the hospital that they could be “insurgents”.
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