Guwahati: Indian Army has completed the Court of Inquiry into the firing incident at Oting in Nagaland’s Mon district where soldiers gunned down over 12 civilians in December last year, Indian Army’s Eastern Command chief RP Kalita said on Monday.
The Army started a Court of Inquiry (CoI), while the state government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing of civilians.
“It was a case of mistaken identity and error of judgment. The Army CoI is complete and it is being examined now. We also received the SIT report and both are being analysed,” GoC-in C of the Eastern Command, Lt Gen R P Kalita, said.
If there is any lapse or fault by anyone, action will be taken irrespective of his rank, he said.
Lt Gen Kalita said Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which has been in force in Northeast for decades, gives some operational support to the forces working in difficult terrains, but the law was not absolute.
“There are SOPs (standard operating procedures) to be followed. At times, deviations have taken place. Whenever there is deviation, strict actions were taken against the defaulters. In this case also, action will be taken as per the Army Act and requisite laws of the land,” Kalita said.