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GARTALA: Two days after eight Reang tribesmen had been massacred by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants in an apparent revenge
bid, two persons were reported missing on Wednesday, with police alleging that Monday night's attackers might have held them captive.
Even as chief minister Manik Sarkar went to Kanchanpur sub-division by chopper on Wednesday to take stock of the situation, the area observed a bandh called by both the ruling CPM and Opposition Congress in protest against the incident, crippling normal life.
"A massive search operation is on to trace the hostages. DGP Pranay Sahay has been camping in the subdivision since Tuesday," a police official said. The missing have been identified as Manikrai Reang and Budharam Reang. Police sources said tension still prevailed in interior parts of Kanchanpur. "However, the situation is under control following massive deployment of security forces in the subdivision," they added.
Intelligence officials believe the snatching of an INSAS rifle from NLFT militant Sadhan Jamatia by seven Reang youths who had later "surrendered" before the Special Branch on Monday with the same weapon could be the immediate trigger for the carnage. But there were several other factors, including "ethnic intolerance", that had played a key role in the violence. For Reangs the second largest community after Tripuris the predominantly Tripuri NLFT has a special dislike. "We have reports that NLFT attackers were led by Kiran Tripura, a Tripuri militant, and we believe there was an ethnic grouse behind the killings," said a senior police official.
In Kanchanpur, however, there had been an undercurrent of communal tension between Reang villagers and NLFT's Tripuri leaders for quite some time. "NLFT is desperate to stage a comeback and the Kanchanpur massacre is an indication of that. With this killing, they sought to send a message to tribal villagers resisting their recruitment and extortion drive," a Tripura Police official pointed out.
GARTALA: Two days after eight Reang tribesmen had been massacred by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants in an apparent revenge
bid, two persons were reported missing on Wednesday, with police alleging that Monday night's attackers might have held them captive.
Even as chief minister Manik Sarkar went to Kanchanpur sub-division by chopper on Wednesday to take stock of the situation, the area observed a bandh called by both the ruling CPM and Opposition Congress in protest against the incident, crippling normal life.
"A massive search operation is on to trace the hostages. DGP Pranay Sahay has been camping in the subdivision since Tuesday," a police official said. The missing have been identified as Manikrai Reang and Budharam Reang. Police sources said tension still prevailed in interior parts of Kanchanpur. "However, the situation is under control following massive deployment of security forces in the subdivision," they added.
Intelligence officials believe the snatching of an INSAS rifle from NLFT militant Sadhan Jamatia by seven Reang youths who had later "surrendered" before the Special Branch on Monday with the same weapon could be the immediate trigger for the carnage. But there were several other factors, including "ethnic intolerance", that had played a key role in the violence. For Reangs the second largest community after Tripuris the predominantly Tripuri NLFT has a special dislike. "We have reports that NLFT attackers were led by Kiran Tripura, a Tripuri militant, and we believe there was an ethnic grouse behind the killings," said a senior police official.
In Kanchanpur, however, there had been an undercurrent of communal tension between Reang villagers and NLFT's Tripuri leaders for quite some time. "NLFT is desperate to stage a comeback and the Kanchanpur massacre is an indication of that. With this killing, they sought to send a message to tribal villagers resisting their recruitment and extortion drive," a Tripura Police official pointed out.
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