DIMAPUR, Feb 15 � After a brief lull, tension flared up in Tuensang town again. On Saturday at around 10 am, a class IX student was reportedly abducted from a village near the town and shot dead by armed miscreants. His body was recovered from the outskirts of Tuensang town at around 1 pm. The victim has been identified as Lamji Chingmak of St. Joseph�s School Tuensang.
Following the abduction and killing of the student, an angry mob ransacked the office of the Deputy Commissioner and also reportedly fired several shot at the office of the Superintendent of Police of Tuensang in the evening. Nine persons have been arrested by police following the incidents.
Following the killing and arson, the district administration again promulgated Section 144 CrPC in the town on Saturday.
Chang and Yimchungr� tribes have been engaged in bitter fight over some land dispute in Tuensang town since November last year. Two persons, including a minor boy, were killed on February 6.
The district administration clamped Section 144 CrPC after the killing of the two on February 6 but withdrew it with the improvement of the situation on February 12.
Meanwhile, an official release said a high-level security coordination meeting chaired by the state chief secretary and senior civil and police officials on Saturday reviewed the worsening situation in Tuensang.
The release said the government took a serious note of the development in the district especially the killing of the student after the visit of the ministerial team. In view of the worsening situation, the state government has decided to take additional measures to book those involved in disturbing the peace so as to control the situation. The state government has also decided to set up a joint control room involving the civil, police and paramilitary forces to complement the efforts to control the worsening situation and maintain peace.
Saturday�s violence in Tuensang town occurred after the visit of a high-level ministerial team to take stock of the situation in Tuensang and Shamator. The ministerial team left Tuensang in the morning after which the incident reportedly occurred.
On February 4, a high level official team comprising additional chief secretary, home commissioner and DGP visited the area to address the worsening situation.
The state government, after a marathon meeting on February 6 between Chief Minister TR Zeliang, chief secretary, home commissioner, DGP and other officials, also constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incidents that had led to loss of lives and properties.
The state government has reportedly rushed additional forces to Tuensang during the recent days and with directives to brook no interference while enforcing the rule of law. It was also learnt that police with support of paramilitary forces will soon chalk out a strategy to launch a proactive intervention so as to prevent armed militias and their supporters from hijacking the authority of the legally established government. No person from which tribe or organisation who continues to involve in provocative or criminal activity will be tolerated and that the government would deal with them with a heavy hand, sources said.
Many families have fled Tuensang town during the past few weeks in the wake of the disturbances and threats.
The Eastern Naga Students Federation has expressed shock and sadness over the cruelty inflicted on students.
ENSF president Shahsha L Menahu and general secretary Honang M Jessuhu said the present situation was �ignited and got inflamed over a tiny dot of land� which has polluted and shattered the minds and dreams of thousands of students who cradled the vision with pride �to lead and reform the society�. It blamed �the old locked and rusted minds� for dismantling the dreams of students and said their �ill thoughts and actions� have silenced the federation in protecting students from such cruelties.
