Guwahati: Home Minister Amit Shah had “misled” the Lok Sabha when he said that security forces had opened fire on civilians in Nagaland after they tried to flee, said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday.
The Congress leader further said that a Congress delegation was allegedly stopped at Jorhat by district officials when they were on their way to Nagaland.
Talking about the matter Ranjan said that the union minister in the parliament had given a misleading statement by saying that people of Nagaland were shot dead in the Oting firing when they tried to fly after being signaled.
He further added that the people who were admitted to the hospital said that they have been shot directly without any warning.
Chowdhury said Congress President Sonia Gandhi had sent a group to Mon village in Nagaland, including Lok Sabha members Gaurav Gogoi and Anto Antony, to share the anguish of residents whose family members were slain in security forces’ firing.
“The leaders of the Congress were barred from visiting the Mon district. This government has made it impossible for us to visit Lakhimpur Kheri. This government has made it impossible for us to travel to Nagaland. The situation in the northeast is deteriorating “Chowdhury said.
The problem highlighted by Chowdhury, according to Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, concerned the state government rather than the Lok Sabha.
The home minister expressed regret on Monday for the deaths of 14 people in Nagaland’s Mon district in three separate incidents of security personnel fire, the first of which was a case of mistaken identity.
Shah had told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Army had received intelligence about the rebel movement in Mon and that the ’21 Para Commando’ unit had set up an ambush.
When a car was signaled to come to a halt, it attempted to rush away. Security personnel opened fire after suspecting the presence of rebels in the car, he claimed.
Six of the vehicle’s eight occupants were killed in the security forces’ fire, Shah claimed, adding that the incident was later determined to be “a case of mistaken identity.”