Tripura Police detained 13 members of a Bangladesh-based organisation, including two women, and they will be pushed back to their country very soon, an official said on Wednesday.

A police official said that they were arrested after raids by the police from a rented private house at Biswas Para under Amtali Police station in west Tripura late on Tuesday night.

Senior police officials throughout the day interrogated the 13 cadres, suspected to be members of the Chakma community organisation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeast Bangladesh. “After interrogation, the Police have handed them over to the MTF (Mobile Task Force), and the MTF handed them over to BSF.

All the 13 members would be pushed back soon to Bangladesh jointly by BSF and MTF,” said an official. Sources said that these 13 members were injured in the armed clashes with their rival group at Panchari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh last week.

With their injury, they crossed over to India for medical treatment, and on Tuesday night, the Tripura Police detained them from a rented private house.

According to preliminary reports, the group reportedly crossed the India-Bangladesh international border illegally through Raishyabari in Dhalai district following a violent encounter on the other side of the border. Most of them have bandages on their legs and hands. The armed struggle of ‘Shanti Bahini’ in the CHT ended through the signing of a bipartite agreement between Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and the Bangladesh government on December 2, 1997.

The ‘Shanti Bahini’ had been demanding a sovereign CHT for the indigenous tribals comprising Chakma, Mog and other communities living in the hilly region. According to reports, there have been attacks on the indigenous people in the CHT by the Bangladesh Army and illegal settlers after the fall of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5, 2024.

Buddhist Chakmas mainly live in the CHT of southeast Bangladesh, the Chin and Arakan provinces of Myanmar and several states of India’s northeastern region. Indian Chakma leaders also demanded the implementation of the ‘CHT peace accord’ for the protection of the tribals in the hill region of the country. Tripura, which has an 856 km border with Bangladesh, is surrounded on three sides by the neighbouring country, making the northeastern state very vulnerable and sensitive to cross-border migration issues.

–IANS

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Three weeks after an agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government, over 400 militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) will lay down their arms and ammunition at a ceremony in the state on Tuesday, officials said.

Tripura Home Department officials claimed that this would be one of the biggest surrenders in the northeastern region in recent memory.

The NLFT and the ATTF outfits signed the peace agreement with the Centre and Tripura government in Delhi on September 4 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, other political leaders and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Tripura government.

According to the official, over 400 militants of NLFT and ATTF would surrender before the Chief Minister at a surrender ceremony on Tuesday afternoon at the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) seventh battalion headquarters at Jampuijala in the Sepahijala district.

The official said that with this surrender of militants in Tripura, the nearly five decades-old insurgency in the northeastern state is expected to be over. He said that under the September 4 agreement, signed with the two outlawed militant outfits, a special package of Rs 250 crore has been approved by the MHA.

As per the agreement, the leaders of the NLFT and ATTF have agreed to shun the path of violence, surrender all their weapons and ammunition, and dissolve their armed organisations, the official said.

The surrendered militants would stay in a designated camp for three years and receive skill training in various trades during this period.

Apart from this ₹4 lakh would be deposited in the bank account of each surrendered militant, and the amount can be withdrawn only after three years by the beneficiaries. According to the agreement, each surrendered NLFT and ATTF cadre would get ₹6,000 per month for three years and these cadres would be given priority in various employment generation works in agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and rural development, the official said referring to the provisions of the agreement.

–IANS

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In an instance of extreme high-handedness by a public servant, a Tripura family had to pay a price for continuing with a wedding celebration during the night despite appropriate permissions already having been obtained.

Tripura West District Magistrate (DM), Dr Shailesh Kumar Yadav raided the wedding hall in state capital Agartala on Monday night and stopped the wedding party, abusing everyone present and threatening them with arrests.

In a video of the incident that has gone viral on social media, the DM is seen shoving the groom out of the hall. The police personnel, accompanying him, beat up people before driving them out. When a woman presented the DM with a copy of the permission letter obtained by the family from authorities, which he himself had allegedly signed, he tore it up and threw it at her face.

In the video, Yadav can be seen physically assaulting the bride and the groom. He misbehaved with the elderly people gathered at the venue, jostling them around and abusing them. Not sparing the police personnel in uniform, he even showered the choicest of abuses on them.

“I am bloody District Magistrate…SA*ale…This is my command…”, he said.

“Go out. Let’s go out,” Yadav shouted as he pushed the groom out of the hall. “Book them and take them to lockup,” he ordered the cops.

“All these people, who assembled, violated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and as such, they will be prosecuted under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant). All of them will be arrested right now,” the high-handed bureaucrat proclaimed.

Altogether 31 people were taken into custody by the police. They were let off later.

During the raid, he had asked a police officer to count the number of people present at the wedding hall. When the cop said the officer-in-charge (OC) of the local police station was coming, the DM lost his cool.

“Count and tell me. This is my command as the DM. You all are hand in glove with these people,” he thundered.

“I will recommend to the government to suspend the OC of Agartala West Police Station because he has not acted upon repeated complaints of people. I, the DM, had to come here. This is very shameful on the part of the police,” Yadav said.

He further ordered the closure of the marriage hall as well as another for one year for “violating orders”.

This is what Indian people go through on a daily basis – Covid or no Covid.
This ain't rule of law – this is colonization 2.0@PMOIndia @HMOIndia @BjpBiplab Will you take any action against this babu? pic.twitter.com/ktjUEhooM9

— Upword (@upword_) April 27, 2021

Meanwhile, the bride’s brother Subhrajit Deb took to Facebook to condemn the District Magistrate’s highhandedness. Deb informed that the wedding was being carried out after attaining all due permissions from the District Magistrate’s office itself.

Sharing pictures of the documents where permission to carry out the ceremony was granted by the Tripura West DM’s office itself, Deb confirmed that Yadav’s office had, in fact, granted them 4 vehicle passes so that they could move around smoothly (if required) during the ceremony. He writes that all these documents were signed by the DM himself.

Deb furthered that keeping the COVID-19 protocol in mind, they had gathered not more than 25-30 close relatives for the wedding.

“Is it illegal to follow Hindu marriage act in my state? Should we not follow the auspicious time (logno)? If we are educated fools sir, then its also uneducated behavior using un parliamentary language infront of a crowd! Its also inhuman to arrest kids and women at 1 am and taking them to police station when kids of 9 yrs age are crying!”, Deb wrote.

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A young assistant professor from Tripura developed the COVID-19 WARBOT, to help health workers in the fight against COVID-19. This WARBOT can serve food, medicines, and other essential items to the patients to avoid human-to-human contact.

Harjeet Nath, an assistant professor at Tripura Universities Chemical and Polymer Engineering Department spoke about his development. “The main motivation behind this robot is safeguarding and basically ensuring the safety of health workers, nurses, and doctors, who are working in COVID-19 related hospitals. WARBOT is a four-wheeled robot that I have developed at home using waste material.” He added that “Some countries have already developed robots and they are helping the healthcare workers a lot. This robot can serve medicines, water bottles, and food packets as and when needed. There is also a camera if the patient wants to communicate with the doctor.”

Harjeet informed that it took him two weeks to develop a robot. He spent around Rs. 25000 and used spare material like three motors, two rechargeable lead-acid batteries, transmitter, receiver, and USB output.

As far as functioning is concerned, the robot can carry a load of around 15-20 kilograms of material like medicines, food, and water. Its operating range is 15-20 meters with a mobile phone or computer. It is said to be to operate for one hour continuously.

Harjeet insisted it to be handed over to state government for use in COVID-19 hospitals.

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