Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury hits out at Centre over Nagaland incident

The Baharampur MP accused the Union Minister of presenting a "misleading" statement on the incident that led to 15 lives being lost, 14 civilians, and one security personnel.

He also brought up Wednesday's development, when a three-member Congress delegation led by deputy leader in the House, Gaurav Gogoi, en route to Mon district to meet the families of the victims, were detained in Assam's Jorhat.

Chowdhury during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, on Thursday termed it a 'brazen' act.

"In Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) we were stopped by this government and now in Nagaland. The delegation was detained in Assam without any reason," the Congress leader said.

The Congress MP said, "The Home Minister gave a misleading statement in the House over Mon firing incident. Those people admitted to the hospital said security forces shot at them directly without any alarm."

Later the Gogoi-led delegation was allowed to go to Dibrugarh after four hours. They met the family members of the injured victims.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, however, said, "This is a matter of state government."

Earlier this week, Shah in the lower house had said, "A vehicle was asked to stop, but instead they tried to speed up and leave the area. On doubt that the vehicle was carrying suspected rebels, firing was resorted to."

In the aftermath of the incident, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma, both part of BJP-led Northeast Democratic Alliance, have demanded repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.