Violence Returns to Tripura After Polls; Left Activists Attacked, Houses Vandalised
Houses of a number of CPI(M) supporters gutted in Kamalpur
Kolkata: After retaining power in the state by a slim margin, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tripura has reportedly started a concerted attack on Left activists and resorted to allegedly vandalising and torching their homes. A few senior journalists from the state also reported attacks on their houses and said that an eerie atmosphere prevails in parts of Tripura.
In view of the grim situation, the West Tripura district administration has imposed restrictions on public movement under Section 144 of the CrPC to maintain law and order.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) state unit in a press release strongly condemned these attacks and has called for the immediate reinstatement of law and order in the state.
In Jubarajnagar, the rubber plantation of newly elected CPI(M) MLA Shailendra Nath was set on fire allegedly by some BJP miscreants.
In Agartata’s Badharghat area, the house of the local party secretary Shyamal Roy was attacked. In Sripally in Agartala, the house of veteran journalist Samir Dhar came under attack by miscreants. At least five CPI(M) activists from Sripally reported attacks on their houses in Sripally.
An alleged onslaught by BJP members continued in the Kumarghat division’s Pecharthol, Dudhpur, and Dasghari regions. In Dudhpur, two CPI-M activists were physically attacked.
The house of Rana Chakraborty, a school teacher, in Chittaranjan Pally of Jirania Bazaar was also attacked. The miscreants allegedly damaged the door, broke the window panes, and vandalised his motorcycle.
The house of the CPI(M) Krishnanagar area committee secretary Ranjan Das was reportedly vandalised.
In Bishalgarh’s Charilam area, about 15 to 16 houses were vandalised and the house of one Sanjay Mullick was torched by miscreants. The arms of a government employee were broken allegedly by miscreants, and he was stopped from going to the hospital for treatment.
News of arson and violence has come from the Udaipur division also. In the Bagma area, the shop of DYFI state committee member Bikram Ghosh was torched. In the middle Rajarbagh area, CPI(M) leader Rakhal Mondal’s house was attacked and vandalised.
In the Garji area, the house of a scribe working for the local daily Protibadi Kolom was attacked and his rubber plantation was gutted in the fire. Arson and violence were reported from Khowai also after the BJP’s defeat in the Assembly segment. The violence affected Singichara, Lalchara, North Durganagar, Sonatola, Ganaki, and Paharmura areas.
In the Dharma Nagar area, scores of houses belonging to opposition CPI(M) activists were looted and vandalised. In the Shantibazaar area and Kamalpur, many shops and houses of the opposition activists came under attack. Locals claimed that the electricity supply to the houses of CPI(M) activists was disrupted so that the darkness could aid in attacking and escaping.
Burning house of a left activist in kamalpur
In the Noagaon area, a CPI(M) activist was attacked reportedly with machetes. He has been hospitalised and is in a serious condition, it has been reported.
In Pratapgarh, the political violence has returned with biker gangs of BJP allegedly leading multiple attacks in the area, threatening life and properties of the Left activists.
With inputs from Shantanu Sarkar from Agartala.
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