The Union Home Minister Amit Shah today addressed the Lok Sabha on the Nagaland incident where innocent civilians were killed along with an army jawan in a botched counter-insurgency operation on Saturday.
Speaking at the lower house of the parliament, Mr. Shah said that the Army had acted upon information of extremists' movement in Oting in Nagaland's Mon district. He said that Army's 21 Para Commandos had laid an ambush in the area.
The home minister further informed that the vehicle carrying the villagers was signaled to stop but it tried to flee. Suspecting that the vehicle was carrying the militant insurgents, the security forces opened fire on the vehicle, he said.
Going on, Mr. Shah informed that six of the eight people in the vehicle were killed on the spot, which later turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. The remaining two people who were injured were taken to the nearest health centre by the Army.
He added that after the locals got to know of the incident, they surrounded the Army unit, attacked jawans, and set two vehicles on fire. In the attack by the locals, one jawan was killed and others were injured. Security forces then fired in retaliation for self-defense and to disperse the crowd, according to Mr. Shah.
The retaliatory fire caused the death of seven other civilians, leaving some injured. The local administration and the police then tried to bring the situation under control, the home minister further informed.
