Nagaland botched ambush case: What happened on December 4, 2021? What SIT probe revealed?

Concluding a six-month long probe, the Nagaland Police on Saturday charge-sheeted 30 security personnel for the botched army op in the state’s Oting-Tiru which resulted in 13 civilian casualties in a case of mistaken identity.

Holding the soldiers of the 21 Para Special Force, including a Major, accountable in the unfortunate incident on December 4, 2021, the police slapped charges of murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

What happened on December 4, 2021?

The unfortunate incident took place at around 4:20 pm on the Saturday. An operation team of 21 Para Special Force had laid an ambush at Longkhao between Upper Tiru and Oting village. The forces opened fire at a White Bolero pick up vehicle which had eight civilians onboard. The passengers in the vehicle were residents of the Oting village and most of them used to work at the coal mines at Tiru as labourers. Six of the villagers died on the spot while two were grievously injured.

Villagers of Oting and Tiru initiated a search for the missing people and reached the spot of the botched ambush at around 8:00 pm. Upon discovering the dead bodies, the villages turned violent and entered into a scuffle with the 21 Para Special Force personnel.

In the altercation, one paratrooper lost his life after sustaining injuries. 14 other members of the security forces also sustained injuries. The violent backlash from the villagers led the Major to order the forces to open firing at around 10 pm. The operation team started to break contact, it was revealed in the probe. This incident resulted in seven villagers being gunned down by the special force.

In the aftermath of the incident, a major law and order situation developed in Mon town the next day. Public places were vandalised by an outraged mob. An Assam Rifles post was also attacked while civilian was killed in retaliatory firing.

The unrest and backlash from the incident fuelled demands in Nagaland on the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Several civil societies conducted protests across the State in the coming days.

What did the probe find?

It was revealed that the Alpha team of 21 Para Special Force comprising 31 personnel launched an operation on December 3, 2021 based on intelligence inputs on the presence of a group of cadres belonging to National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) (Yung Aung) (NSCN-K(YA) and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) cadres in the area.

The investigation found out that the Special Force Operation team had not followed the Standard Operating Procedure and Rules of Engagement. It had resorted to indiscriminate and disproportionate firing which led to immediate death of 6 civilians and caused grievous injury to two more. The forces had opened fire without ensuring positive identification or challenging the villagers, the probe said.

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(With inputs from agencies)