Guwahati: John Longkumar, director-general of police (DGP), Nagaland, and commissioner Rovilauo Mor in their report on the Oting incident filed before the state government on Monday.
The DGP and Commissioner, who have been camped in Mon since December 6, explained the Oting gunfire incident on December 4 and the subsequent violent skirmishes that followed the ambush in Nagaland’s Mon town on December 6.
The incident occurred about 4:10 p.m. on Saturday, December 4, when eight coal miners heading home in a Mahindra Pickup truck were ambushed, according to the report.
“They were attacked and executed at random by security personnel (reportedly, the 21 Para Special Force headquartered in Assam), apparently without any attempt to identify them,” according to the report.
The reports also include that the people who were killed in the incident were unarmed civilians who were returning to their homes from work when the security personnel opened fire on them killing six people on the spot.
“When the villagers arrived on the scene, security officers were wrapping and packing the bodies of the six people into a Tata Mobile vehicle, ostensibly with the intention of transporting the dead to their base camp,” the report continued.
“Violence broke out between the villagers and the security personnel after the bodies were discovered under a tarpaulin in the Tata Mobile,” it said. As a result, the enraged villagers set fire to three security vehicles, and the troops opened fire on the villagers again, killing seven more villagers.
“Eyewitnesses have stated that the security personnel opened fire indiscriminately as they fled from the scene towards the Assam side,” the report said.
It may be mentioned that at least 14 civilians were killed on December 4 in the Oting incident of Mon district of Nagaland.
However, the security personnel later issued a statement where they regretted the deaths of the civilians.