The department of Military Affairs under the Ministry of Defence has denied sanction to prosecute the 30 Army personnel who were allegedly found involved in the December 2021 firing incident in Nagaland’s Oting village in which six civilians were killed, the office of the Director General of Police, Nagaland, said on Thursday.
In the evening of December 4, 2021, security forces had, in a case of “mistaken identity”, fired at a pickup truck carrying eight miners in Oting in Mon district. While six died on the spot, two survived. Seven more civilians, and a security personnel, died in the retaliatory violence that followed.
Following the incident, which caused wide public outrage in Nagaland and the Northeast, the state government had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. Separately, the Army initiated an independent Court of Inquiry to investigate the incident, assuring that it would initiate disciplinary action against anyone found guilty, “irrespective of rank”.
The SIT completed its investigation and, based on its findings, filed a chargesheet in May 2022 at the district and sessions court in Mon. It indicted all 30 personnel of the 21 Para SF team, including the team leader, a Major rank officer, under IPC sections related to murder, attempt to murder and destruction of evidence, among others, pending prosecution sanction.
All the victims, the SIT concluded, were shot at “with a clear intention to kill”. It accused the team commander of “conspiring to kill the occupants of the pickup vehicle in spite of the fact that the ground sources input was different”.
However, without the sanction to prosecute from the Centre, a precondition to initiate action against security personnel in areas which are under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958, the legal process could not proceed further.
In a statement on Thursday, the DGP’s office said the sanction has been denied.
“The SIT after completion of the investigation, on 24/3/2022 had sought Sanction for Prosecution from the Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Government of India…It may be mentioned that prosecution sanction from the Government of India is required for initiating any proceedings against security forces personnel for any actions taken by them while discharging their duties under section 197(2) Cr.P.C and Section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). …Meantime, the competent authority (Department of Military Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Government of India) has conveyed its denial to accord Sanction for Prosecution against all the 30 accused,” said the statement signed by Roopa M, Inspector General of Police, Nagaland.
It said the denial of prosecution sanction had been communicated to the district and sessions court in Mon by the SIT and the State Crime Cell Police Station.
Since the incident, the Army has stuck to the line that the ambush was a case of “mistaken identity”. Two days after the incident, on December 6, 2021, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said the same in Parliament.
While the Army had said in May 2022 that it had completed its independent Court of Inquiry, it is yet to decide on the action forward. In December last year, top Army sources had told The Indian Express that they could not “proceed” on the matter as the case was “sub-judice”.
“The Court of Inquiry is complete in all respects but the case is sub-judice now. Unless the (Supreme) Court’s decision is finalised, we cannot proceed independently,” a top official had said, adding that the entire team involved in the incident, save one who has since retired, continues to be on duty.
In July 2022, the apex court had stayed proceedings on the FIR and the report of the SIT, invoking the immunity the AFSPA offers to the security forces. This was in response to the petition filed by the wife of the Army officer who had led the operation. The petitioner had asked for a stay on the chargesheet, citing non-sanction of prosecution by the Department of Military Affairs.
Meanwhile, in Oting, Keapwang Konyak, the president of the Oting Students’ Union, and the friend of some killed in the incident, said he failed to understand why the
government denied the prosecution sanction. “Is murder not a crime? Are the people of Oting — and Nagas in general — not human? The SIT report clearly said the Army was guilty. Doesn’t the government of India value the life of our people?” he asked.
The vehicle that came under fire in Oting. (Express file photo) 
Share
