The Indian army personnel named in the killings of civilians in Nagaland’s Oting will not undergo any civil trial and will be tried by by the army, according to reports.
The soldiers of the 21 Para Special Forces of the Indian army were involved in the botched operation in December 2021 which led to the death of 14 civilians at Oting in Nagaland.
They will now be tried internally by the army, reported IANS citing sources.
“All the accused are highly-trained personnel of the Indian Army who were on a mission to neutralise a group of militants, including some of the top leadership of the NSCN-KYA,” IANS quoted sources as saying.
The report added that the charge sheet filed by the special investigation team implicates the soldiers stating that the operation was carried out with in “intention to kill innocent villagers”.
However, IANS reported that this was far from the truth.
“It is unfortunate that the van carrying residents of Oting arrived at the spot exactly at the time when the militants were about to get there. The militants were close by and got away, thanks to the confusion,” the source was quoted by IANS.
Quoting a retired officer of the rank of Lieutenant General, the report stated that allowing a civil court to try the security force personnel would amount to “throwing them to the wolves”.
This would affect the morale of the troops who would be reluctant to obey orders, he said.
Meanwhile, the court of inquiry (CoI) into the Nagaland killings where as many as 14 villagers were killed, has been completed by the Indian Army.
