Villagers deny Army claim

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itagar, Feb 27: Villagers of New Chingsa village, in Kharsang circle of Changlang has refuted the Army claim that one Samtit Kitl is a NSCN (R) cadre. Various organization of the village said that Kitl is a villager who has a wife and children. The villagers however said that he is a well known drug addict. In a strongly worded statement, the villagers said that though they do not rule out the possibility of he being an extortionist to fund his drug needs but villagers are sure that he do not belong to any antisocial groups. Further, they questioned the law enforcing agency for randomly picking him without clear cut information as to whether the victim is genuinely a cadre of NSCN(R) or not. He should not be forcefully tagged as the outfit cadre, they said adding that such act will not only push him indirectly to join the outfits but it might also pose a threat to his life from other outfits, stated a press release here today.