New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) The Centre on Wednesday signed a ceasefire agreement with a faction of the Naga insurgent group NSCN led by Niki Sumi against whom the NIA had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for allegedly killing 18 Indian Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015.
According to the Home Ministry, the peace pact will come into effect from September 8 for one year and more than 200 cadres of this group have surrendered with 83 weapons
Sumi was the prime accused in the killing of 18 Indian Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015 and the National Investigation Agency had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for his arrest.
A Home Ministry statement said that the ceasefire agreement is a significant step in Naga peace process and making the Northeast insurgency-free.
“In fulfilling the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Insurgency free and prosperous North East’ and in a significant boost to Naga peace process, under the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the government of India enters into a ceasefire agreement with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) Niki Group,” it said.
The ceasefire agreement and agreed ceasefire ground rules were signed on Wednesday.
In December last year, the NSCN-K, led by dreaded militant Niki Sumi, had announced a ceasefire and said that the outfit has contacted the central government for initiating peace dialogue.
The home ministry statement said the government of India has already signed a framework agreement with NSCN-IM and ceasefire agreements with other Naga groups namely, NSCN-NK, NSCN-R and NSCN-K-Khango.
The three outfits are breakaway factions of dominant groups NSCN-IM and NSCN-K
Earlier, the central government had signed an agreement with NLFT(SD) in August 2019 by which 88 cadres along with 44 weapons surrendered in Tripura.
In January 2020, with the signing of the Bodo agreement, more than 2,250 cadres of insurgent groups, including all factions of NDFB, along with 423 weapons and a huge quantity of ammunition surrendered in Assam and joined the mainstream.
On February 23, 2021, 1,040 leaders and cadres of various underground Karbi groups of Assam surrendered along with 338 weapons and it was followed by the signing of the Karbi Anglong agreement on September 4, 2021.