BY- EDITOR BANIBRATA DATTA (FTFMI)
Miscreants continue to destroy livelihood options of people in the ongoing post counting violence in Tripura. The disturbances are occurring even as Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha directed the Police to take stern actions against the miscreants.
Shops, domestic animals and Rubber plantations are the prime targets. Besides, residences of rival party supporters are also coming under attacks and Board examination candidates are facing uphill task. One of the Board examinee was injured in an attack by goons in Churaibari while another one lost his study materials after trouble makers set the house on fire.
The latest incident of arson was reported on Thursday (March 9) from Nehalchandra Nagar Bazar under Bishalgarh Constituency. Miscreants attacked the house on previous night and burnt down 20 shops even before the Fire Service Personnel reach the spot.
Ironically, most of the victims are small scale vendors and shop owners who are dependent on the earnings from their shops. Destruction of the shops caused huge losses.
Visiting the spot, BJP’s Bishalgarh MLA Sushanta Deb condemned such incident of arson and urged the administration to step effective steps against the offenders.
On March 7 last, six shops were gutted in fire at Boxanagar Assembly area under Sepahijala. Also, several shops were destroyed or damaged in Chandrapur Market in Agartala on March 8 evening.
Earlier, miscreants burnt down around 9 shops of No 1 Tila market in Belonia. According to the traders, amount losses could be around Rs 22 lakh. Several areas under Teliamura witness incidences of arson in fruit market and other areas
Besides, miscreants set ablaze a cowshed in Khowai on March 8 last in which four cows were perished in the fire. The perpetrators could not be identified and remained untraced. Similar incident was reported from Udaipur under Gomati district couple of days ago in which two cows and five goats fell victims to political rivalry.
Rubber plantations are also coming under attacks in Jubarajnagar, Ampi and Santirbazar areas in which the miscreants are either burning down the plantations or cutting down the rubber plants.
The growing incidences of attacks on livelihood have stirred major concern. Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, while talking with the media on Thursday (March 9), said he has instructed the Director General of Police to take tough action against those who are responsible for the post-poll violence.
Amidst the ongoing post-poll violence in Tripura, an eight-member parliamentary team would visit the BJP-ruled state on Friday and Saturday to probe the incidents of political hostility and talk to the affected people.
Leaders of Congress and the CPI-M said that the parliamentary team, comprising five MPs of Lok Sabha and three MPs of Rajya Sabha, divided into three groups, would visit violence-hit villages and urban areas of three districts — West Tripura, Sepahijala and Gomati.
MLAs and leaders of Congress and CPI-M would accompany the parliamentary team when they would visit the violence hit areas.
The members of the parliamentary team include, P.R. Natarajan, Gaurav Gogoi, Ranjita Ranjan, A.A Rahim, Abdul Khalique (Lok Sabha) and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Vinay Viswam, and Elaram Karim (Rajya Sabha).
Tripura CPI-M Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said that after over a thousand incidents of violence since March 2, thousands of people, including women and children, fled from their homes and took shelter in the jungle, different places and outside the state.
“The police remained a silent spectator and refused to register FIRs. Some people were detained for a while but were let off later,” Chowdhury told the media.
He said that at least three persons were killed while over 200 people were injured in the series of incidents of violence after the announcement of February 16 assembly polls on March 2.
Many properties, including rubber gardens, shops, business establishments, vehicles and houses were destroyed and burnt down during the violence, which still continues, Chowdhury alleged.
