Tripura, May 23: The Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), a constituent of the ruling BJP-led coalition, observed a 24-hour strike in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area in protest against the alleged attack on its president and minister N C Debbarma.
Debbarma, the revenue minister, was on Thursday attacked allegedly by supporters of the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) at Belbari, about 25 km from the state capital, police said.
It was alleged that supporters of TIPRA in the Jampuijala area showed black flags to IPFT supremo NC Debbarma and chanted “go back” slogans.
However, the police brought the situation under control and no one was attacked.
The TIPRA, a newly floated tribal party, swept the recently concluded elections for the 30-member TTAADC. Educational institutes of the state are closed due to summer vacation while government offices are closed as it is the fourth Saturday of the month.
Private vehicles were off the road due to restrictions imposed by the government in view of the surge of COVID-19 cases, officials said.
“We have appealed to the people to come forward against the barbaric attack on the leaders. Due to the pandemic and outbreak of Covid19, we have decided not to gather in large number for the strike and decided not to carry out any picketing,” the IPFT supporters said.
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Additional superintendent of police Amitabha Pal said adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure that no law and order situation remains normal.
“The police and TSR jawans are deployed across the ADC areas. The goods and transport vehicles are moving as usual and so far, no untoward incident has been reported,” Pal said.
As the night curfew was imposed from 6 pm, all shops were closed in the evening. Officials said that about 20 strike supporters were picketing at Mandai and Khumulwung area of West Tripura district, who returned home following requests from the police.
