A Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 28
A masked gunman on Saturday night opened fire inside a house sheltering daily wage earners at 7 Mile junction, Chumukedima, leaving two of them injured with bullets lodged inside their legs. The victims have been identified as Ainul Haque, in his 20s, and Abdul Sukur, aged 40.
The shooting, which occurred at around 7.30 pm on Saturday, is believed to be in response to the victims’ refusal to pay illegal tax to a Naga underground group. The Chumukedima Chamber of Commerce has responded by calling for a 12-hour bandh, from 6am till 6pm, in Chumukedima area on Monday.
ACAUT Nagaland on Sunday said that the incident was an attempt to spread fear psychosis by the extortionists by picking on soft targets since their collection (read extortion) activities were about to begin for “this financial year.” It also assured “total support” to the bandh called by the traders of Chumukedima.
After confirming that the incident was a taxation-related one, some members of ACAUT Nagaland visited the victims at Dimapur Hospital on Sunday. There they were told that the doctors have yet to remove the bullets lodged inside the victims’ legs.
It was also discovered that the doctors had left the victims unattended for the whole day till around 2.30 pm on Sunday. The victims were admitted to the hospital at around 10.30 pm on Saturday after which they were prescribed with medications by the doctor in attendance.
On Sunday none of the doctors attended to the victims until around 2.30 pm, despite calls from the victims’ family/friends, they were told. “For us this is a clear-cut dereliction of duty to us. A patient cannot be left unattended for this long, especially with bullets still lodged inside,” Joel Nillo of ACAUT told reporters.
Reportedly, the ACAUT members were informed that the hospital would conduct surgeries to remove the bullets on Monday.
DCC Dimapur condemns
While condemning the incident, Dimapur District Congress Committee has accused the government of failing to control the deteriorating law and order situation particularly in Dimapur.
