Itanagar: Nearly after four months when 13 villagers were killed in firing by security forces in Nagaland's Mon district, another such incident has come to the fore in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap, where two civilians were ''mistakenly'' shot at by the army.
Following the input about the movement of armed rebels, an ambush was laid by the special forces but mistakenly, the forces opened fire on the two villagers.
As per reports, the incident occurred at Chasa village on Friday evening when two villagers, identified as Nokphya Wangdan (28) and Ramwang Wangsu (23), were returning home after fishing in a river.
However, the Army immediately sent them to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh.
"Army contacted the families of both to apologize and gave financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin to settle the matter amicably," Tirap DC Taro Mije was quoted as saying by the media.
One youth was shot in the leg, while the other's bullet injury was on the toe. Presently, both of them are out of danger.
'When the boys started shouting that they were civilians and not terrorists, then the commandos immediately stopped firing,' the DC added.
Tirap, along with Changlang and Longding, is the three districts in Arunachal where the Centre extended AFSPA on Friday. AFSPA gives armed forces sweeping powers to arrest without a warrant and even shoot to kill in certain situations.
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