Trinamool team to visit Nagaland to meet families of civilians killed

A five-member delegation from the Trinamool Congress will visit Nagaland on Monday to meet the families of the civilians who were mistakenly killed by the security forces.

The five-member team, including four MPs -- Sushmita Deb, Shantanu Sen, Aparupa Poddar and Prasun Bandopadhyay -- will reach Otin village in Mon district in the morning. Former Mizoram advocate Biswajit Deb will accompany the team as the fifth member.

Earlier, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. "Worrisome news from #Nagaland. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of those who were injured. We must ensure a thorough probe into the incident and ensure that all victims get justice!" the chief minister wrote in her tweet.

According to sources in the party, the delegation will go to the village and speak to the families of the deceased and the injured. They will also try to speak to the other villagers as well. The team will submit a report to the party after coming back on Tuesday morning.

However, the situation in the area remained tense after the security forces opened fire on civilians, which, the police said, was possibly a case of mistaken identity. Security forces had reportedly been tipped off about insurgents belonging to the Yung Aung faction of the banned outfit NSCN (K) and were tracking their movements. On Saturday, army personnel mistook coal mine workers returning home in a pick-up van as insurgents and gunned them down.

Calling the loss of lives unfortunate, the Army said the incident is being probed at the highest level and action would be taken as per law. Following the incident, the famous Hornbill festival in Kohima was shut down.

--IANS

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