Army kills villager in mistaken identity

By Staff REPORTER

ITANAGAR, Jun 15: In a case of mistaken identity, a villager in Changlang district bordering Myanmar was killed late Wednesday night when Army personnel opened fire at him believing he was an ultra.

Thingtu Ngemu, the 35-year-old man, was shot dead while the troopers of 21 Para (Special Forces) were carrying out a counter-insurgency operation at Kangsa village under Namtok police station.

Defence PRO, Colonel Chiranjit Konwer said the soldiers had specific intelligence inputs regarding the movement of hardcore terrorists and had accordingly laid an ambush in the areas when the man arrived on foot.

"It was during this time the individual who got killed, came into the ambush area. 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," the PRO said.

A case of mistaken identity death has been registered.

Army officials said that counter-insurgency operations have been intensified in the area since it is a transit route for Ulfa-I and NSCN-K rebels.

Meanwhile, sources from Changlang said angry locals gheraoed the police station but police controlled the situation.

On January 22 this year, two soldiers from the Assam Rifles lost their lives in an encounter with terrorists belonging to the Khaplang faction of NSCN near Jairampur in the district.

There was a heavy exchange of gunfire between the two groups and multiple grenades were also exploded by (NSCN-K).

A Toyota Fortuner was damaged in the blast. None of the passengers was injured.