All the nine highly decomposed bodies found on Friday in Dimapur district were identified to be those of ethnic Karbi people from neighbouring Karbi Anglong district of Assam, Nagaland police said here today.
While one body was identified on January 3, four were identified yesterday and the remaining ones today, Additional SP of Dimapur, Watichuchang Jamir, said.
One of the nine, Harlongbi Ingti, was a missing Karbi student leader from Bokajan, a town in the trouble torn Karbi Anglong district and close to the inter-state border.
Ingti was reported to have come to Dimapur for some festive time shopping, the other eight victims were reportedly construction workers in Dimapur and Kohima, said Jamir, who is a member of the SIT constituted to probe the killings.
The bodies were identified by the family members who took them back home for the last rites.
However, it was still not clear how they were killed.
The bodies of the nine persons, who were blindfolded with hands tied and shot from close range, have been found at a gorge at Pachaspura near Chumukedima. The corpses were stacked atop each other and were covered with a polythene sheet on which some boulders were placed.
It was suspected that the nine might have been killed over a week ago as the bodies were decomposed beyond recognition.
The police were not ruling out the possibility of the crime being committed in some other place and the bodies then dumped in the area.
Jamir said the SIT began its investigation yesterday and no arrests were made.
Dimapur Deputy Commissioner N Hushili Sema appealed to the people to maintain peace and extend help to the district administration and the police to curb violence as tension prevailed in Bokajan-Dimapur border areas.
