Imphal, Jan 28 : Naga militants holed up in a camp in Ukhrul’s Siroy today agreed to move out if they were allowed to shift to another village and not to a designated camp — a demand the Assam Rifles rejected.
The 17 Assam Rifles surrounded the camp of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) on January 18 after the militants, who are not supposed to set up camps outside Nagaland according to ceasefire ground rules, refused to surrender their weapons.
The Assam Rifles public relations office this afternoon issued a statement rejecting the NSCN (I-M) demand of shifting to another village.
“The NSCN (I-M) authorities have intimated that they (the cadres) would not move to any of the designated camps and their cadres would move to yet another village with arms, ammunition explosives. Obviously this proposal cannot be accepted as no armed cadres can be permitted to move in any of these areas,” the statement said.
On January 23, the NSCN (I-M) sought “safe passage” out of Siroy — a request the Assam Rifles accepted “as a one-time measure” to allow the militants to move to any one of their designated camps with their weapons.
The Assam Rifles today said the army and the paramilitary forces “have gone out of their way” to help the people of Siroy. “NSCN (I-M) armed cadres, if allowed to remain in these areas, will affect the security situation and the peaceful environment and hence, (that) cannot be permitted,” the statement said.
The forces will continue to cordon the area until the rebels either surrender their weapons and leave or move to any of the designated camps with their weapons.
Naga women, who formed a wall between the rebels and forces to pre-empt clashes, continued to keep vigil today.
Hundreds of Naga villagers, under the Co-ordinating Committee on Siroy Siege, today held a sit-in on Gandhi Avenue at the district headquarters demanding withdrawal of the troops from the area to allow the NSCN (I-M) cadres to leave.
“The sit-in was organised to put pressure on the Assam Rifles personnel to allow the cadres to leave by withdrawing first from the area,” a spokesperson of the committee said over phone.
“We believe once the Assam Rifles withdraw, the cadres will go away. So the civil society groups of Ukhrul have been urging the Assam Rifles to vacate the area first,” a resident of Ukhrul, T. Shimary, said.