A 55-year-old man and his 17-year-old son were killed and the mother grievously injured when caught in the alleged cross firing betweenthe Assam Rifles and the proscribed NSCN (IM) cadres in remote Hollam village in Tirap district on Thursday morning.
However, two NSCN(IM) cadres were killed while another was arrested and huge cache of arms and ammunitions seized, according to Tirap District Superintendent of Police Vikramjit Singh.
Those killed were identified as Panjam Wangsu, his son Ranthak, while Panjam's wife Nyelai, 45, was seriously injured.
Self-styled Sergeant Mir Wong and Shungmi and self-styled corporal Sumong Tikhir were killed and one self-styled private Joy arrested, the SP told this daily over telephone.
The security forces recovered two AK 47 rifles, one each M-16 and sniffer rifle and over 100 live ammunitions after the encounter that began around 5.45 am Thursday, he disclosed.
When the whole world was celebrating the New Year with great enthusiasm, gun bursts shattered the celebration in the tiny hamlet with 15 households, about 28 km from district headquarters Khonsa.
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The village chief and gaon burah alleged that the AR personnel indiscriminately fired at a house while the ultra were hiding in another house.
Expressing strong resentment at what the village elders termed as worst violation of the human rights by thepara military force demanded a judicial probe into the entire incident.
While the father died on the spot, the son died on way to the hospital while the woman has been fighting for life in the hospital, they claimed and demanded all possible help to thesave the injured besides adequate compensation to the victimised family.
In fact, the Isac Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN intermittently get engaged in turf war for area dominance shattering the peace in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts in which the civilians get sandwiched between the UGs and the security forces. That is the reasons these districts have been declared disturbed under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.