The Nagaland government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the December 4 civilian killings in a botched ambush by Army commandos at Oting in Mon district, has submitted its final report to a local court.
Senior administrative and police officials in Nagaland confirmed that the report — a charge-sheet — was submitted to Mon’s district and sessions court in mid-April. But a district official said the report would be resubmitted to the court after the public prosecutor makes some additions.
“The contents of the report cannot be divulged now,” a SIT member said.
Routine practice
According to the Mon official, scrutinising a report to make it a watertight case for prosecution or trial was a routine practice in many States.
In case of alleged crimes committed by the Central forces while discharging official duties, prosecution sanction is required to be obtained from the Central government before submitting a charge-sheet in a court.
The SIT was constituted a day after 13 people were killed in the botched ambush and resultant violence. Two others — a soldier at Oting and a civilian in Mon, about 60 km away — were killed too.
The SIT, initially comprising five officers, was given a month to complete the investigation. At least 16 others were co-opted in due course.
The Army probed the incident separately.
The SIT had visited Jorhat in Assam and grilled the Army personnel who had taken part in the December 4 operation. It had also visited the site of incident multiple times, sent some material outside the State for forensic laboratory tests and got photos and videos of the incident examined by a technical institute.
