By IANS,
Agartala : Ahead of the assembly polls in Tripura, the separatist outfits are trying to carry out violent activities in the bordering state, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here Thursday, amid reports that rebels based in Bangladesh are planning to strike.
The crucial assembly polls in the Left Front-ruled Tripura are scheduled for February next year.
“Since 1988 assembly polls, ahead of every election, the extremists have been conducted bloody actions killing many people. However, this time the security forces are ready to deal with any eventuality,” the chief minister told reporters.
Sarkar, who also holds the home portfolio, was reacting to the media reports that the Tripura militants held meetings in their Bangladeshi hideouts to prepare strategies to create troubles before the assembly elections in the state.
Tripura Police recently arrested five dreaded National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants, including a woman, and recovered Rs.2.5 million, electronic gadgets and documents from them.
The chief minister said that the extremists’ plans were also revealed after the arrest of these militants.
“The militant outfits are trying to engage tribal youths to revive their groups, collecting money to procure arms and create trouble before the elections…funds are being sent to militant camps in Bangladesh to procure arms and ammunition,” Sarkar said quoting the arrested militant leader Dhanu Koloi.
Tripura’s two militant secessionist outfits – NLFT and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), both banned by the Indian authorities – have set up bases in Bangladesh along with the other outfits of the northeast, and receive support from other separatist outfits of the region.