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Two persons including a schoolteacher, riding a motorcycle, were shot dead by the army in Meghalaya's North Garo Hills district, an incident which the army said took place because it mistook them as armed militants.
Local schoolteacher Sweetbirth D Marak and Alphuis Momin, both residents of Rajasimla village, were returning home on a motorcycle last night when they were shot dead by army personnel at Kharkutta area, officials said on Thursday
"We are awaiting details of the case from the police. Accordingly, a magisterial inquiry will be constituted," district deputy commissioner S C Sadhu told PTI.
Kharkutta MLA Cherak W Momin, who reached the spot on Thursday morning, condemned the killing of the two "innocent people".
"The matter needs to be probed immediately and the guilty should be punished," he said, adding that this is the second instance of "indiscriminate firing" by the Army resulting in the death of two persons in the area.
The army, confirming the killing of the two civilians, said they were killed as they didn't stop after being asked to during counter-terrorist operations.
"Firstly this incident primarily occurred due to non-adherence of existing security instructions by the concerned motorcycle-borne civilians," Army PRO Lieutenant Colonel Suneet Newton said in a statement in Shillong and in Guwahati.
He said, "The heightened level of terrorism to include senseless violence, kidnapping for ransom and extortion by the terrorist groups in the area has caused the army in conjunction with Meghalaya Police to carry out increased vigil. In this particular instance, the army troops were actively dominating the area in the form of an area domination patrol."
The release said the army had specific information of two GNLA cadres moving in a motorcycle and as such had set up a checkpoint on the road from Kharkuta to Khilor.