Tripura remains tense; internet, SMS services to be suspended till today

AGARTALA: Tension continued in tribal-dominated areas of Tripura against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) even as Joint Movement Against CAB (JMAC), a platform of regional tribal parties and civil society organizations, withdrew their agitation soon after the bill was passed in the rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Home department officials admitted that the situation has not improved in rural areas and internet and SMS services will remain suspended across the state till Friday.
Police sources said there was no fresh incidents of violence anywhere in the state and MLAs in trouble-torn areas in North Tripura and Dhalai districts have held peace meeting with the administration.
According to reports, a person died, while another suffered bullet injuries in the last 24 hours at Teliamura in Khowai district, while 11 others, including two policemen, were injured in different locations of the state. Paramilitary forces have been deployed to prevent further escalation of violence.
Police said 19-year-old Akash Debnath of Teliamura suffered bullet injuries late in the night. He was shifted to GBP hospital here in critical condition, where doctors said he was out of danger.
Police said some agitated villagers tried to stop a vehicle in the afternoon at Twichindraipara of Teliamura when the driver attempted a hasty turn around and a passenger Mantrilal Kaipeng skidded out of the car and sustained grievous injuries and later died in the hospital. Both the incidents took a communal colour that triggered tension in the area.
Police and central paramilitary forces (CPF) were on alert across the state throughout Thursday. At night, after JMAC withdrew the indefinite strike after meeting chief minister Biplab Deb, a group of youths gathered in a tribal area of Takarjala of Sepahijala district. TSR jawans dispersed them and asked them not to assemble at one place at night. This angered tribal villagers and they stormed the local police station and allegedly abused the men in uniform. Aditional security personnel had to be deployed in the area to keep things under control.
Tribal student leaders said JMAC withdrew the strike without even discussing with even North East Students’ Organization (Neso), which launched the anti-CAB movement across the region. “We are not going to stop the agitation or step back from our demand to scrap CAB for the northeast,” they said.
Rajesh Debbarma, a Neso activist, said the main movement was launched by Neso against CAB and everyone else had supported the movement in different names. “But if any leader or group makes some arrangement with the state government and tries to stab the agitation, it will be taken seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile, another group of IPFT leaders, led by Tribal Welfare Minister Mever Kr Jamatia, left for Delhi last night to meet Union home minister Amit Shah and seek exclusion of the entire northeast from the ambit of CAB. Royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman is also in Delhi to file a petition in Supreme Court, seeking direction to exclude Tripura from CAB.
Besides, an 11-member team of JMAC also left for the national capital to meet Shah.