Nagaland Villager, An Ex-Jawan, Was Shot In Army Firing. His Account

Chongmei Konyak is now in hospital, recovering from a gunshot wound that he received in the crossfire.

''Bullets were coming from all directions, not only from the jawans who were fleeing.''

Chongmei Konyak had seen it all before - his training as an Indian Army jawan instinctively kicked in.

Caught in the middle of the cross-fire, Mr Konyak hit the deck, crawling to safety. "I rolled down to a nallah to save myself.''

A few metres away, Army soldiers, all members of the elite 21 Para Special Forces, had opened fire after being surrounded by furious villagers who were reacting to the death of six men from Oting, the village that they lived in. Most of the men worked in a nearby coal mine.