SIT probing Nagaland civilian killings to present findings before court
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Placards and a black flag are put up at the venue of Hornbill festival in solidarity with the civilians, killed in an anti-insurgency operation, in Kisama, Nagaland, December 5, 2021. Photo: PTI
Kohima: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Nagaland government to probe the Oting massacre will submit the final report to the court after receiving the forensic results, a senior official has said.
As per Nagaland Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sandeep Tamgadge, the overall supervisor of the SIT, 85 civilians, and 37 security personnel, including 31 army jawans involved in the botched operation, have been examined and the team has visited the spot multiple times.
"The exhibits, soil and blood samples have been sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratories in Guwahati and Hyderabad and their reports are awaited. As soon as we receive those, we will start preparing the final report which will be submitted to the court," he said.
The official said that once the final report is submitted to the court, everyone can access the findings but not before that as it would not be "legally tenable".
Following the killing of 14 civilians by army para-commandos in Oting area in a botched up operation and its aftermath, the state government had set up the SIT and asked it to submit its report within 30 days that ended on January 5.
The SIT was divided into eight teams, of which four teams were tasked with examining the witnesses and survivors in the three incidents, while one team each was tasked with studying the incident site and collecting evidence, cyber technical analysis, comparison of documents, and coordination with various forensics.
The official said that the SIT issued notices to the army under Section 91 of CrPC for collection of documents including names of those involved in the operation, and accordingly 37 officers and other ranks of army and Assam Rifles, including 31 army jawans involved in the operation in the Oting-Tiru area, were examined.
He said that the security forces were cooperative with the SIT.
The officer asserted that the main motive of the SIT was to conduct the investigation in a professional manner so that the evidence stand all odds in the court.