Violence erupted in Kohima at night on February 2nd as a crowd of Naga tribals set ablaze the Kohima Municipal Council building and vandalised a dozen government vehicles after Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang refused to meet their demand on local body polls.
The agitation in Nagaland was against holding the urban local body polls in 12 towns across the state with 33 percent quota for women which took a violent turn after which over thousands of Naga tribesmen armed with machetes and spears protested on the streets and set a fire the old secretariat building which housed the offices of Kohima Municipal Council, Regional Transport Office and Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority and damaged government vehicles.
The police took the charge soon and tried to control the furious mob. Nagaland DGP LL Goungel said the situation was very tensed and had caused a massive damage to the government building and vehicles.”The mob set ablaze the Kohima Municipal Council building. The fire spread and hampered the adjoining transport authority office apart from some private buildings. Several government vehicles were also damaged and a curfew was imposed,” said DGP Goungel.
The sudden chaos spread in Kohima calmed down late night after 375 soldiers, 5 columns, were deployed in the area to take over the situation and maintain the law and order across the city.
The state government has declared this incomplete election as null and void while Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang transferred the Dimapur Police Commissioner and DCP so that a fair probe could occur into the police firing case in Dimapur on Tuesday, in which two persons were killed.
Earlier in the day, the Nagaland Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) demanded CM Zeliang’s resignation accusing him responsible for the death of the two youths as also his government’s alleged failure to respect the wishes of the people and going ahead with the civic elections. Later, the NTAC submitted a memorandum to Governor P B Acharya, blaming Zeliang and his Cabinet for the situation.
