Nagaland firing case: Police register 5 cases, say disproportional shooting led to civilian deaths

The Nagaland police have registered five cases and named 30 Army Special Forces soldiers in a chargesheet over the killings of 14 civilians in a botched anti-insurgency operation last year. 

Nagaland DGP TJ Longkumer also informed that according to the probe, the operations team of 21 Para Special Forces did not follow the standard procedure and rules of engagement. 

“Their disproportional firing led to the immediate killing of villagers,” said Longkumer. 

On 4 December 2021, six coal miners were killed when army personnel opened fire upon the vehicle being used by them to return home. 

The action by the personnel came when they were conducting an operation in the area after receiving inputs on the movement of militants of Yung Aung faction of proscribed outfit NSCN (K).

Angry at the death of the miners, villagers clashed with the soldiers, which resulted in seven more deaths. Army said one soldier was also killed. Another civilian was killed when a mob attacked an Assam Rifles camp at Mon town the next day.

Amid massive uproar, the army had started a Court of Inquiry (CoI), while the state government had set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.

Last month, the Indian Army's Eastern Command chief had said that the Court of Inquiry found the incident “was a case of mistaken identity and error of judgement”.

Mon shares a porous international border with Myanmar, where the Yung Aung faction of NSCN (K) is based.