A day after Thilixu village set 48-hour deadline to DC Dimapur for the arrest of the accused, D. Kughaho Chophy and Khekiye D Chophy, the Mishikito Village Council (MVC) Wednesday demanded that the responsible authority should summons the complainant and clarify the matter in the presence of both the party concerned.
In a complain letter to DC Dimapur, MVC chairman, L. Atoshe Yeptho alleged that Kughaho Chophy and Khekiye D Chophy were “maliciously” dragged into the case with an intention to inflict injury because of “personal grudges”.
MVC also alleged that incident of May 16 “began and ended” by the decision of “Mishikito public under the banner of Mishikito village council” and not by head GB and D. Khekiye Chophy. MVC therefore, said if required, the accusation should be levelled against the Mishikito public.
Narrating the sequences of events, the MVC said that on May 15, the council had requested East Police station to deploy some police personnel at Mishikito village to prevent possible law and order problem as preparation made by a “small section” of Thilixu villagers to erect sign board inside the official jurisdiction of the village was “illegal”.
However on May 16, an illegal sign board, “Daily Market-Thilixu village block-III” was found erected at the inaugural function of the said market despite EAC Chumukedima’s standing order.
Since the erection of the signboard inside somebody else’s jurisdiction being illegal, and sensing the impending trouble, the organizers ordered that the signboard be demolished, where Mishikito public also participated, MVC alleged.
When the demolition was in progress, MVC alleged that one person, Hokheto grabbed Kughaho Chophy (head GB Mishikito village) by the “collar” and “dragged” him around, which infuriated the Mishikito public and resulted in wild “momentary scuffle”.
During the scuffle, a body guard of a parliamentary secretary present at the function opened fired from his service weapon, which provoked “reciprocal” blank firing from Mishikto side. Thereafter, the commotion ended without any serious casualties on either side, MVC alleged.
The council also alleged that the whole incident could have been prevented had the enforcement agency acted as informed.
After the incident, on May 16, at around 9 pm, MVC alleged that unidentified “miscreants suspected to be from Thilixu village” attempted on the life of Kughaho Chophy by firing inside his private residence followed by another firing towards the residence of chairman and vice-chairman of Mishikito village. MVC also claimed that firing was reported and verified by East police personnel reported on the spot.
With regard to May 28 incident at the residence of GB Tokishe Achumi of Thilixu village, the MVC claimed that the individual involved acted on his own behalf and that he was not a resident of Mishikito village.