Nagaland ambush: TMC MPs meet Amit Shah; say Home Min assured compensation for affected

A delegation of seven Trinamool Congress MPs met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday in the wake of the anti-insurgency operation that went awry in Nagaland's Mon district. TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee said that Shah has assured compensation for those who died in the incident.

"Seven members from TMC went to meet the Home Minister on the death of 14 civilians in Nagaland. The HM assured that compensation will be given to the affected families. Nagaland government has already announced employment to the member of their families," Banerjee said.

Nagaland firing results in death of 14 civilians

14 civilians were left dead in a firing occurrence in two separate incidents on Saturday evening and Sunday and the death of a security official in a mob attack in Tizit area of Mon district in Nagaland. The Home Ministry has directed all agencies to ensure that "no such incident reoccurs in future while undertaking operations against insurgents."

On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah termed the incident unfortunate called it a case of mistaken identity. "We received information on the movement of extremists in Oting, Mon. On that basis, 21 commandos laid an ambush in the suspected area. A vehicle reached there and was signalled to stop but it tried to escape at full speed, invoking suspicion of the vehicle carrying extremists and it was fired upon. 6 out of the 8 people in the vehicle died. It was later found to be a case of mistaken identity,” he said.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said that the state government will ask the Centre to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law that gives additional power to the army in problematic situations.

"We took a decision in the cabinet asking the Government of India to repeal AFSPA, not only just from the state of Nagaland but from the whole northeast. We feel that it will be better if the government removes this act from the entire country," said CM Rio on Tuesday. 

On June 30, the Home Ministry had extended the AFSPA in Nagaland for six months. As per the official notification, the Act will remain in effect in the state until December 31.