‘Centre watching situation closely, deeply regret loss of life’: Amit Shah on Nagaland firing

New Delhi, Dec 06: Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha the central government regretted the deaths of the 14 civilians.

"Army had received info on movement of extremists in Oting, Mon. On that basis, 21 commandos laid an ambush in suspected area. A vehicle reached there, it was signalled to stop but it tried to flee. On suspicion of the vehicle carrying extremists, it was fired upon," Amit Shah said in Lok Sabha.

"6 out of the 8 people in vehicle died. It was later found to be a case of mistaken identity. 2 others who were injured were taken to nearest health centre by Army. After receiving news of this, local villagers surrounded the Army unit, set 2 vehicles on fire & attacked them," he said.

"As a result, one jawan of the security forces died; many other jawans injured. Security forces had to resort to firing for self-defence & to disperse crowd. This caused death of 7 more civilians, some others injured. Local admin-Police tried to bring the situation to normalcy," Shah added.

"Current situation is tense but under control. On 5th Dec, Nagaland DGP and Commissioner visited the site. FIR registered and keeping the seriousness in mind, probe handed over to State Crime Police Station. SIT formed, it has been directed to complete probe within a month," the home minister said.

Amit Shah said all agencies have been asked to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future. "It has been decided that all agencies should ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not take place again in the future while taking up such drives. Govt is monitoring the incident minutely and necessary remedial measured are being taken to ensure peace in the area," Shah said.

A Special Investigation Team has been ordered to submit its probe report on the Nagaland firing case.

Lok Sabha members condemned the killing of civilians during an anti-insurgency operation by security forces in Nagaland and demanded an impartial probe into the incident. Members also demanded repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) enforced in Nagaland that allows security personnel to use force and even open fire after due warning in case of breach of law and order.