Imphal, January 22 2009: ASSAM RIFLES today has ordered a code of inquiry into the incident of decamping a jawan with the service weapon issued to him after shooting to dead a JCO with five other personnel including a havildar Wednesday evening in interior Ukhrul district of Manipur even as manhunt operations has started launching in the entire hill district with security red alert to trace out the deserter jawan.

Inspector general has order a code of enquiry into the incident.

The operation to track down the decamped jawan is also in progress, said a source from the PRO of the Inspector General of Assam Rifles (South) today.

A jawan of the 17 Assam Rifles by the name Sheneyi Medio, hailing from Nagaland state at first gunned down the JCO named Baldev Singh and later fired indiscriminately toward the post where other personnel are camping and immediately left the post with the AK rifles issued to him, the source said.

The jawan decamped only with the weapon (AK rifles) issued to him," the source revealed while clarifying that no other weapons carry away by him while running away.

Other personnel died in the discriminating firing were havildar Shamsu Chama, rifleman, W Islam, Diwas Singh, Bikash Kumar and Pritish Kumar.

The six personnel were on duty at the very outpost under the supervision of the JCO, the source said.

The source also ruled out possibility of the decamped jawan joining to a militant outfit stating soon after the shoot out incident, the entire hill area have been cordon off and manhunt operations have launched and till today operation in the jungles are in progress.

The incident occurred in the aftermath of a heated altercation between the decamped jawan and the JCO, Naib Subedar Baldev Singh, the in-charge of the AR manning a permanent check post on the road connecting the Ukhrul district headquarter with Kasom sub-division of the same district near the Kasom Khullen village.

The place is located some 17 kilometer from the hill district headquarter of Manipur which bordering with Nagaland on one side and with Myanmar.

Wednesday's incident is the sixth of which personnel of the Central security forces deploying in the state for counter insurgency killed their colleagues for one or other reason since 2005.The latest one occurred in July last year 2008 in which a jawan by the name Ashokumar of the Jammu and Kashmir Light shot dead a major Ankit Varandhwaj at one its post at Montuk in Chandel district.

In September 2005, a jawan of the 5th Assam Rifles killed four of his colleagues and wounded to one other following a heated argument inside the barrack of one of its post in Jiribam of Manipur.

The incident was followed by another incident of shooting to dead of his colleague by another jawan who also committed suicide in October 7 of the same year.

In November 3, 2006 also at Nongdum post of the 19 Assam Rifles in the same Ukhrul district where Wednesday incident occurred, a Havildar by the named committed suicide after killing his post commander.

Wednesday incident is amidst a high tension between the troops of Assam Rifles and cadres of the outlaw NSCN (IM) maintaining cease-fire with GOI at Siroy village near the district headquarter since the last three days.

Troops of Assam Rifles are keeping cordon off a camp of the NSCN(IM) .

Comment