Kohima, May 12: The attack on NSCN(K) leader Kughalo Mulatonu in Zunheboto town yesterday was more of a panic reaction from the rival NSCN(I-M) than a premeditated assassination attempt. The ceasefire supervisory board chairman, Lt Gen. (retd) R.V. Kulkarni, said as the NSCN (I-M) activists were taken by surprise by the sudden arrival of the Mulatonu and his team, they panicked and opened fire. “Neither the townspeople nor the NSCN(I-M) knew about the meeting. They suddenly tensed and reacted,” Gen. Kulkarni said.
The NSCN(K) leader, two kilonsers (ministers) and 20 members of the outfit had arrived in the town for a meeting with the ceasefire monitoring group on Monday. The shootout took place after NSCN(I-M) activists fired on Mulatonu’s house, prompting the bodyguards to fire back. No one was injured.
A “supervisor” of the outfit, C. Singsong, had reached the town the same morning from Kohima, sources said.
Gen. Kulkarni said both groups breached the ceasefire ground rules after they fired at each other. The NSCN(K) last month extended the truce with the Centre for one more year.
The NSCN(K) team had come to discuss an office in Zunheboto. The team was asked to contact Sumi Hoho, the apex tribal body of the Sema Nagas in order to set up the office.
While the leaders wanted to stay put in Zunheboto after the meeting, they were told to leave town and return to the Suruhoto designated camp. A few years ago, the Sumi Hoho had declared Zunheboto a “peace zone”.