Agartala, Oct 24 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Friday warned that no one involved in Thursday’s violent attacks in the Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district would be spared, asserting that those responsible “will be nowhere in the coming days”.
Reacting strongly to the incidents of violence allegedly carried out by members of the tribal-based Tiprasa Civil Society (TCS), Saha said he had directed the police to take strict action against the perpetrators.
The Chief Minister on Friday visited the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Agartala to enquire about the health condition of three injured persons — Salema Block Development Officer (BDO) Abhijit Majumdar, Engineer Animesh Saha, and trader Subrata Paul.
Of the 12 people injured in Thursday’s violence, three were shifted to Agartala for treatment, while the remaining nine, including Kamalpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Samudra Debbarma, are undergoing treatment at the Kamalpur Bimal Sinha Memorial Hospital.
“We have seen what happened. The entire night I was monitoring the incident and the situation. I have given proper directions to the police,” CM Saha told the media.
A visibly angry Chief Minister said: “This is unacceptable. The way they attacked with sticks, iron rods, and slingshots — and even snatched chains from women — I don’t understand what kind of agitation this is. I have directed Tripura Police to take proper steps, and the law will take its own course.”
Reiterating that no one involved in the violence would be spared, Saha assured that the culprits would face punishment. “Huge security forces have been deployed. I have identified on social media who was involved. No one will be tolerated or accepted. They will be nowhere in the coming days. Just wait and see what happens,” he warned.
In a Facebook post, the Chief Minister added: “The District Magistrate of Dhalai has been instructed to assess the damages caused to the shops vandalised yesterday in Santirbazar under Surma Assembly Constituency. The government stands firmly with the victims and will take all necessary steps for their rehabilitation.”
Leaders across party lines have condemned Thursday’s attack in Kamalpur.
Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said that a section of Tiprasa Civil Society activists attacked businessmen in Kamalpur for opposing the shutdown. “Deportation of illegal immigrants is the duty of the Ministry of Home Affairs. In the name of agitation against illegal migrants, why were officials and businessmen attacked, and why were the houses and shops of innocent traders vandalised?” Sarkar questioned.
State BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee and Congress leader and former minister Sudip Roy Barman also visited the hospital to enquire about the condition of the injured.
CPI-M State Secretary and Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, senior minister Ratan Lal Nath, former Chief Minister and BJP MP Biplab Kumar Deb, and several other political leaders condemned the violence.
The ruling BJP’s ally, the Tipra Motha Party (TMP)-affiliated Tiprasa Civil Society (TCS), led by TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma, had called a 24-hour statewide shutdown on Thursday in support of its eight-point charter of demands.
The demands include deportation of illegal migrants, introduction of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) to prevent infiltration, and implementation of the tripartite agreement signed between the Centre, the Tripura government, and the TMP on March 2 last year.
According to police, picketers carrying national flags staged sit-in demonstrations at more than 52 key locations and highways across the state, and at a few places along railway tracks in West Tripura and Khowai districts on Thursday.
Following the signing of the tripartite agreement, the then opposition TMP, which has 13 MLAs, joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7, 2024, reshaping Tripura’s political landscape.
Two TMP MLAs — Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma — were later inducted into the Manik Saha Cabinet.
The TMP, led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, had also staged a demonstration in Delhi on September 9 to press for its demands.
Since 2021, the TMP has governed the 30-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which covers nearly two-thirds of the state’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12.16 lakh people, about 84 per cent of whom are tribals.
–IANS
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