india

Updated: Nov 13, 2019 19:35 IST

A young couple who posed with automatic assault rifles at their wedding reception in Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur last week was arrested on Wednesday. They were later released on bail.

The photos, which went viral, showed the son and daughter-in-law of Bohoto Kiba, ‘kilo kilonser’ (home minister) of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Unification (NSCN-U)—a Naga rebel outfit engaged in peace talks with Government of India, holding an AK56 and M16 rifles.

The Dimapur district police in Nagaland had registered a case against the two under provisions of the Arms Act, 1959.

“The couple was arrested and their statements recorded. They said that their father’s bodyguards were nearby at the wedding reception and they (the bodyguards) handed them the weapons (which were used to click the photos), said Nagaland Police DGP T John Longkumer.

“We lodged a case and seized the weapons. The two bodyguards who provided the rifles have been arrested and they are in jail. The couple was later released on bail,” he added.

NSCN-U leader Kiba had been in the limelight earlier for threatening to kill journalists for using the phrase “self-styled” to mention military designations given to members of the rebel outfit.

NSCN-U is a breakaway faction of NSCN-Isak Muivah, the largest and oldest of the Naga rebel outfits. It is part of the seven rebel outfits (except NSCN-IM), which are in peace talks with the Centre under the banner of Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs).