NIA names leaders of wrong Naga faction in Manipur ambush case

The case registered by the National Investigation Agency on Saturday against several Naga rebel leaders in the June 4 ambush in Manipur that killed 18 soldiers has mistakenly identified two leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khole Kitovi) as members of ‘NSCN (Khaplang) and its affiliates’.

The case registered by the National Investigation Agency on Saturday against several Naga rebel leaders in the June 4 in Manipur that killed 18 soldiers has mistakenly identified two leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khole Kitovi) as members of ‘NSCN (Khaplang) and its affiliates’.

The NSCN (KK) reacted late Monday night, questioning the NIA’s ‘high-class investigative agency’ tag and wondering how it targeted the wrong group.

NSCN (KK) was formed in 2011 after two senior leaders Khole Konyak and Kitovi Zhimomi fell out with SS Khaplang, chairman of NSCN (K) that abrogated a 14-year ceasefire with New Delhi on March 27. The ministry of home affairs did not lose time in recognising NSCN (KK) and inking a ceasefire pact with it.

A government official in Delhi said the Manipur police, which had initially registered the FIR, had made the mistake: “Since a central investigating agency is required to re-register the original FIR when it takes over a case, the error continues to be reflected in the NIA’s FIR also.”

“The government should have known that the NSCN and NSCN (K) are two separate parties. In spite of NSCN (K) claiming responsibility outright for the Chandel incident, NIA is wasting time implicating the wrong people,” a NSCN (KK) statement said.

(With inputs from HT Correspondent in Delhi)

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