Kohima, March 2: Lieutenant General R.P. Kalita, GOC-in-C Eastern Command, on Wednesday met Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio and assured full support of security forces in maintaining a conducive security environment in the region.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Sumit Kumar Sharma said that Lt Gen Kalita interacted with the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary J. Alam, and discussed the security scenario and issues pertaining to the state of Nagaland. Kalita also visited the Headquarters IGAR (North) of Spear Corps in Kohima where he was briefed by senior officers on the operational and administrative preparedness as well as the security situation prevailing in Nagaland. Indian Army Troops Deployed in Forward Areas of Drass, Kargil District Wish Countrymen on Occasion of Pongal (Watch Video).

The officer commended the efforts of IGAR (North) in maintaining high level of professionalism, and appreciated their untiring endeavour towards assisting the local populace and civil administration, especially during the pandemic times. Almost all the political parties and Naga organisations, besides the Nagaland government, have been demanding to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 (AFSPA).

The demand to repeal AFSPA got intensified during the several weeks long agitations after the killing of 14 people by the security forces in December last year in Mon district. The Nagaland government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) while a court of inquiry has been instituted by the Army to probe the incident, but the outcome of the inquiry is yet to be made public.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2022 08:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).