24 years old Paratrooper Gautam Lal of 21 PARA SF lost his life in Nagaland as a violent mob attacked security forces after the ambush which killed 13 innocents. He was the youngest among five brothers and three sisters in his family. Gautam Lal’s home is in Nauli village, Devprayag of Tehri district.
Six civilians were killed when army personnel mistook coal mine workers returning home in a pick-up van on Saturday evening to be insurgents belonging to the Yung Aung faction of the banned outfit NSCN(K) in Nagaland’s Mon district.
As workers failed to reach their homes, local youth and villagers went in search of them and surrounded army vehicles. In the ensuing melee, one soldier was killed and army vehicles burnt down. Soldiers who fired in self-defence killed another seven civilians.
