People's Democracy

TRIPURA

 Extremists Go On Killing Spree After Tying Up With BJP

EMBOLDENED by the alliance between the anti-people BJP and the outlawed extremist organisation NLFT’s over ground political wing, the INPT, the extremists went on a killing spree in Dhalai district of Tripura over the span of three days. They slaughtered five innocent people, severely beaten up 14 others, and gang-raped six women in two remote villages of the district. All victims were members of the families supporting the CPI(M) and were aged between 5 to 55 years. The killers belonged to NLFT and another outlawed organisation, ATTF. It was apparent their design was to destabilise the pre-poll scenario in Tripura.

In separate statements, the CPI(M) state secretariat and the Tripura Upajati Ganamukti Parishad vehemently condemned both the March 11 and March 13 extremist atrocities and genocide in Dhalai district. The Party viewed the two incidents as the rearing of the ugly heads of the cornered and crest-fallen militants, who are now motivated by their new found mentors in the run up to the parliamentary poll in Tripura. The Party urged the Election Commission to arrange for adequate security in order to ensure free and fair polls in the state. This was particularly necessary in view of the extremists’ conspiracy to vitiate the pre-poll scenario in the state, being aided and abetted by the anti-Leftist forces of all kinds, including the INPT and its new political partner, the BJP.

On March 11, at about 8.00 p m  a gang of fifteen sophis-ticatedly armed NLFT extremists raided a remote tribal hamlet Paisaram Karbari Para under Longthorai Valley Sub-Division, Dhalai. The hamlet is inhabited by just 18 families with others having moved elsewhere due to extremist atrocities. Assem-bling the male members of the families in the courtyard of a house, the extremists severely beat them up with bamboo sticks killing an ailing person on the spot and injuring fourteen others. The barbaric gang thereafter swooped with a savage orgy on women and gang-raped them in full view of the injured people till 1.00 a m. On getting information from people of the neighbouring villages, the police rushed to the spot and removed the six raped women and the fourteen injured men to hospital. According to villagers, the barbaric extremist attack was the sequel to the recent successes of the counter-insurgency operation of security forces in the area.

On March 13, at about 10.00 p m a group of twelve suspected ATTF extremists raided the house of a non tribal poor peasant at the remote mixed population hamlet Nabinbari under Kamalpur Sub-Division, Dhalai. The extremists broke the door open and fired randomly with AK-47, SLR and 303 rifles, killing on the spot the peasant's 30 year old wife, 55 year old mother-in-law and two sons aged 5 and 7. Before leaving the extremists also set aflame the peasant’s cottage adjoining a tribal habitation, situated 5 km away from Bangladesh border, and hardly a kilometer away from the camp of the Assam Rifles in charge of the security of the area. The divisional leaders of the CPI(M) rushed to the spot next morning. The district’s top police officers and the para-military too visited the affected house and a manhunt was launched. At 12 hour bandh was observed throughout the Manikbhander area of the district on March 15 condemning the carnage at the call of the Left Front.

Incidentally, ever since the electoral rout of the anti-people non-Leftist political parties in the last year’s assembly elections in Tripura, there has been massive erosion in the rank and file of the opposition Congress –INPT combine as well as severe set back suffered by the outlawed extremist organisation with numerous extremists killed or captured or surrendered to the administration due to excellent cooperation among the people, the police and the para-military. Now the entire political vested interests are desperate to destabilise state’s pre-poll scenario cashing in on the political connivance of the ruling party at the centre having recently allied with the INPT.