GUWAHATI: A civilian in Arunachal Pradesh was gunned down by the Army, which later called it a case of “mistaken identity”.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night in the state's Changlang district bordering Myanmar.
Thingtu Ngemu, 35, was shot dead by the commandos of elite 21 Para (Special Forces) mistaking him to be an ultra, during a counter-insurgency operation
“The Army troops had laid an ambush in this particular area based on hard intelligence with regards to the movement of a group of hardcore terrorists. It was during this time that the individual, who got killed, came into the ambush and on being challenged, he made very suspicious movements and rushed towards the ambush party, which forced them to open controlled fire resulting in the individual suffering fatal injury. It is a case of mistaken identity,” a defence spokesman said on Thursday.
Militants, belonging to particularly the SS Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) and Paresh Baruah faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), often use the routes in Changlang besides neighbouring Tirap district of the state to sneak in and out of Myanmar.
The insurgents sneak out their bases in the neighbouring country to carry out subversive activities and extortions, the spokesman added.
During Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s recent security review meeting with the chief ministers of Arunachal, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur, which share their borders with Myanmar, Arunachal chief minister Pema Khandu had expressed deep concerns over the porous border and activities of the militants in the state’s three south-eastern districts.