‘No evidence to link Naga villagers to deaths’
Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 5
AMIDST REPORTS of “encroachers” from Nagaland allegedly killing three people and torching several houses and parts of a tea garden in three villages of Sibsagar district in Assam, Mokokchung Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Singh today said there is no evidence of any direct or indirect involvement of Naga villagers in today’s incident.
“To my knowledge these two killed were not Assamese people, one is a Nepali by the name of Chhetri and the other a Muslim identified as Surbad Ali who were running a tea garden in the jhum fields of Anaki villages, and they were paying taxes to the Anaki villages,” the Deputy Commissioner said.
Singh said that he sees no reason why the Anaki villagers should try to harm the two victims since they were working and paying taxes under the jurisdiction of the Anaki village Council. Singh strongly said that the incident which happened at around 2 am on Thursday seems to the handiwork of unknown miscreants. He also disclosed that the villagers have warned that if the state government does not provide security, then the villagers would fight for themselves in case of any eventuality.
However, the Deputy Commissioner of Mokokchung has assured to provide security to villagers and have posted one platoon of the 13th NAP at the disputed area. The district administration is also working out to provide more security to the area. He said the administration in Sibsagar has been contacted and got an assurance from them that no Naga villager would be harassed.
“The Assam side may be claiming the area as theirs, but as far as we are concerned the area is a disturbed area belt,” Singh said and added that a police case has been registered in Tuli police station and that the matter would be investigated thoroughly. He also strongly said that if any Nagas are found to be involved, then they would be sternly dealt with as per the law.
Biswa Gogoi, a resident of Geleki, the town which borders the Naga villages, said the people on the Assamese side are venting their fury on the battalion of Assam Police posted at the area ‘who for no reason killed a Naga one month after his arrest and release.’
Alemongba was arrested by Assam Police when he had come to Geleki to attend the funeral of Nilikesh Gogoi, wrongly killed by CISF personnel. Nilikesh, a close friend of Biswa, was respected and held in high esteem by both Assamese and Nagas for his efforts to keep intact the strong ties between the Ahoms and Nagas followed for ages.
‘Sometimes, there are small altercations between brothers but there is no large misunderstanding between the two peoples,’ Biswa said. ‘There is no animosity.’ The situation at the moment is ‘normal’ and reports linking today’s deaths to encroachment is false, he added. Today’s killings were spurred by the assassination of Alemongba, he said.
‘Suspicious’
However, despite the strong words of the Mokokchung Deputy Commissioner, an underlying coincidence remains unanswered. Singh said that the incident occurred when the Mokokchung district administration had gone down to Sibsagar to discuss the ‘cold blooded killing’ of Alemongba with the administration there.
“Only when we were in the meeting they (Assam officials) told us that the Nagas have committed the killing which shocked us,” said Singh. He said that it is very suspicious that the incident occurred on a day when the Mokokchung administration went down to discuss about the killing of Alemongba ‘which was very strong’ in the hands of the Mokokchung district officials.
Anakai village condemns incident, demands security
The Anaki Village Council today condemned the killing of three persons and the injury of two today and also appealed to the Nagaland government to provide security forces to contain the situation.
“The Anaki village Council condemns the incident which occurred last night at Latigrah and Sonapur villages under Anaki Village jurisdiction under Tuli Sub Division of Mokokchung district by unknown persons,” said three representatives of the Anaki village Council today.
They said that the village council is determined to trace the culprits responsible for the killings and the blasts. They said that the Anaki village area is very tense with the situations likely to turn ugly any moment, which is causing sleepless nights for the women and children of the area.
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