Hebron, July 13 (MExN): Condemning the claim of an encounter of NSCN (IM) cadres by the 16th Assam Rifles in Arunachal Pradesh, the NSCN (IM) today alleged that the unarmed NSCN members were killed by the security force after “inhuman torture.”
Calling it a “cold blooded murder,” a press statement from the Ministry of Information & Publicity, NSCN (IM) claimed that the two, both Razou Peyus, were killed at Senua Noksa village of Longding district in Wancho Region of the GPRN “in full view of the villagers who were just returning from the Church” around 9:00 pm on July 11.
Accusing the AR personnel of killing the two cadres at the residence of deputy village chief, it stated, “The dead bodies were kept in the custody of the Assam Rifles personnel who kept firing point blanks the whole night to mislead the villagers that the two were killed in encounter.”
The bodies were handed over to the family and villagers after 3:00 pm the next day, it was alleged.
According to the NSCN (IM), the modus operandi of the AR was that it sent two decoys in civvies as NSCN members on the fateful day at the residence of the Hamsa Wangham (deputy chief) of the village.
“He unsuspectingly invited the two victims at his residence upon the request of the two decoys. The victims upon reaching the residence of the deputy village chief were overpowered by the Assam Rifles personnel who had already surrounded the village,” it claimed.
“Therefore, the question of encounter or the Assam Rifles personnel coming under fire from the victims or weapons captured from the victims are baseless, ridiculous and highly malicious,” NSCN (IM) asserted.
It clarified that civil functionaries of GPRN normally do not wear camouflage and are unarmed except for the higher functionaries who are entitled to small arms for protection.
Maintaining that the AR claim is merely a “hog wash,” it further alleged that Sergeant Pangang Gangsa (a Naga Army) of Wakka village was killed right in front of his wife by the same personnel on May 25, 2018.
It further said that the NSCN (IM) in its “sincere quest for peace” has “instead become a victim of the ceasefire.”
The NSCN (IM) has lost more members during the ceasefire period beginning from August 1997 till date when compared to the number of casualties during the non-ceasefire period, it maintained.
“Is this the price the Nagas have to pay for demanding peace and unity from the Gol?”
The NSCN (IM) statement meanwhile lambasted that the Nagas showing more maturity than the Indians have remained patient for too long, while the Indian Army personnel continue to “run amok in Nagalim.”
Reminding of what the former Indian Prime Minister, AB Vajpayee had said in a meeting with the NSCN leaders in 2002 at Osaka, Japan, “Where there is a fighting, there will be cease fire, as per the agreement signed on June 14, 2001 at Bangkok,” the statement said that agreement still stands and the ceasefire between the NSCN and the GoI is without territorial limit.
“…Perhaps, the Assam Rifles is trying to destroy the peace process initiated by the Government of India and face the worst consequences,” it added.
