Imphal, September 11, 2009:

Contending that the Mokot Chepu incident was a fake encounter, Kuki National Organisation (KNO) has written a letter to the Union Home Minister for looking into the matter.

Informing this while talking to a group of mediapersons at Churachandpur last night, defence secretary of KNO and convenor of Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) of the tripartite Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact TS Haokip said that KNO could never accept the claim that armed cadres KLA which is one of the 11 constituent members of the tripartite treaty engaged in shoot out with troops of 12 Maratha Light Infantry on September 7 night at Mokot Chepu in Ukhrul district.

The incident of killing of one civilian driver and four KLA cadres has caused hindrance in the efforts of KNO to resolve the problems of Kuki people, he said, adding that KNO's primary concern now is to restore confidence in its relationship with the Army, but clearly, the onus of responsibility does not lie with the KNO.

It is on this basis that secretary in charge of home of KNO T Antone Kuki has on September 8 send a letter to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to ensure such unfortunate incidents are not repeated and to extend necessary assistance to the bereaved families, convenor of JMG TS Haokip said.

He also demanded a probe into the incident at the Ministerial level, payment of compensation to the family members of the victims including the civilian driver and returning of all the arms and ammunition seized by the Army.

In response to a question asked by the mediapersons, Haokip explained that the ground of rules of SoO entails giving prior information and seeking permission from the posts of the security forces in case the cadres have to move around in their operational area.

Likewise, security forces have also give prior information about their movement in the vicinity of the designated camps.

He went on to say that KLA cadres who have been killed were on their way to Yaolen in Ukhrul district and necessary permission had been sought from the commanders of the 23 AR posts at Yaingangpokpi and Litan although the alleged shoot out with personnel of 12 Maratha Light Infantry.

Recalling that KNO had signed SoO with the Army through Union Defence Ministry on August 1, 2005 and subsequently with the Centre and the State Government on August 22, 2008, Haokip observed that though strayed incidents misunderstanding have witnessed over the these past three years, the latest incident at Mokot Chepu is serious.

He informed that there are in all five designated camps of KNO which has 11 constituent members namely KNA, KNF (Z), KNF (MC), USRA, UKRA, ZRA, KLA, ZDV, United Minority Liberation Army, KRA (U) and Pakan Reunification Army which is currently under process.

The last group has been floated by members of seven clans in Chandel district and so efforts are being made to increase the number of designated camps to six.

Preparations are being made to begin the dialogue from the current tenure and upto now only ceasefire is being observed, he further informed, adding that after signing of SoO instances of extortion or torture have come down to a great extent.

The cadres are being controlled and punishments have been awarded to guilty cadres, Haokip said.

On the other hand, during a memorial service at Changnomphai village in Churachandpur district yesterday, KNO and its constituent members paid revolutionary salute to the four KLA cadres who were killed in the Mokot Chepu incident.

The mortal remains of the four cadres were also buried after a mass funeral service last night.

Apart from leaders of the constituent members of KNO, public leaders, representatives of civil organisations and large number of people attended the service during which gun salutes were also offered to the departed souls.

In the Mokot Chepu incident, Lt Thangkhochon of Changnomphai had been killed along with privates Lonkholam Haokip of Moreh, Lallunlen Kilong of Aigejang village and Thanglenmang of Phaimol village.

Meanwhile, some of the KLA cadres who escaped from the hands of the Army in the Mokot Chepu incident have come up with a different version of the alleged shoot out.

According to corporal Johny of Khamenlok, who is one of the five survivors, on that fateful day, nine of them including the four cadres who were killed were going towards Yaingangpokpi from Yaolen in the Tata truck (NL-01A/2892) which came across along the road.

Informing that one of the survivors identified as Samuel was hit by a bullet on his right thigh and is current undergoing treatment at Churachandpur Hospital, Jkhny said that another cadre identified as Jetli alias Paominlen was arrested but released afterward.

He also identified the remaining survivors as Irine and James.

Johny further informed that when the Army personnel stopped the truck, Lt Thangkhochon got down but he was blind-folded and commanded the rest of the cadres to lay down arms.

As soon as the arms were laid down, the Army started opening indiscriminate fire.

Along with injured Samuel, four of them managed to escape from there, Johny said, adding that none of the KLA cadres have opened fire on that day.

Condemning the killing of four KLA cadres and one civilian, KNO in a statement has said that the conduct of the 12 Maratha Light Infantry was in violation of human rights and the ground rules of SoO.

Informing that on September 6 PRO of KLA Gorrey Kuki had sought the permission from the Post Commanders of 23 Assam Rifles at Litan and Yaingangpokpi and the same had been granted, the KNO statement signed by its information and publicity secretary Lenin H Kuki said that the KLA cadres were returning after they were told to come back to their camps by the CO of 23 AR when they met the troops of 12 MLI.

The MLI troops led by Captain Vivek stopped the truck in which the KLA cadres were returning and commanded to lay down their arms.

Captain Vivek told PRO Gorrey to left the place in his motorbike and the remaining cadres were fired upon killing the driver of the truck and four KLA cadres while five others managed to escape.

The irresponsible act of Captain Vivek had been aided by Naik Subedar Rawat, Naik NS Sinha, Naik K Chandra and Naik TD Singh of Core Intelligence Surveillance Unit who came together in an Alto car (MN-02/9371), the statement charged.