Nagaland botched op: Charges framed against 30 elite troopers

GUWAHATI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Nagaland government has charge-sheeted 30 members of the elite Jorhat-based 21 Para (SF), including a Major, in connection with the botched counter-insurgency operations on December 4 last year in which 13 villagers of Oting in the state's Mon district were killed.
Nagaland Police stated the SIT probe revealed that the para commando team "had not followed the standard operating procedure (SoP) and the rules of engagement and resorted to indiscriminate and disproportionate firing." The police investigators have underlined the need to address those issues and requested the appropriate authority for taking necessary action. The 30 paratroopers have been charged with criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender and criminal act under the IPC. Besides one officer, who is in the rank of Major, the others charge-sheeted include two subedars, eight havildars, four naiks, six lance naiks and nine paratroopers.