Nagaland Incident Not Intel Failure, Villagers May Have Tried to Save Insurgents During Ops: Sources

The Nagaland firing incident was not a case of intelligence failure, and credible inputs were shared by the insurgency task force about the movement of the insurgent group, top sources told CNN-News18. Thirteen civilians were killed and 11 others injured by security forces in two consecutive incidents of firing, the first of which was possibly a case of mistaken identity.

It is mandatory to check intelligence inputs by two agencies, which include the Army and task force at their level, the sources said. However, the intelligence sources said, that the insurgents were tipped off by someone at the last stage and they managed to infiltrate locals in that movement.

The addition of civilians was not known to the task force and by then the operation had already been planned, the sources said, adding that there is possibility that villagers tried to save insurgents from the attack and they were killed.

The same set of villagers also support the Nagas from time to time, the sources said.

The state government has decided to set up a High Level Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an IGP level officer to probe the incident that took place on Saturday evening, according to an official statement.

The state government also condemned the incident that took place in Oting village area, Nagaland Chief Secretary J Alam said in the statement. He said an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh will be paid to the next of kin of the 13 deceased while the state government will bear the cost of medical treatment of the injured persons.

Senior minister P Paiwang Konyak led a team of officers including the director general of police reached Oting village to monitor the situation, Alam said. He said two state government helicopters were pressed into service for emergency relief operations and four injured persons were airlifted from Mon to Dimapur for further medical treatment.

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