By IANS,
Agartala : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar Friday asked the police and civil administration to stop the post-poll violence in the northeastern state.
On the opening day of the week-long session of the new assembly Friday, opposition Congress legislators protested about post-poll violence before walking out.
Responding to the Congress legislators’ allegation, Sarkar said: “I have asked the director general of police to take steps irrespective of political connections to stop the violence. All district magistrates have been asked to submit reports within 10 days about the hostilities.”
“During and after the Feb 14 assembly polls in Tripura, some speeches and comments prompted these post-poll violence,” said Sarkar, who also holds the home portfolio.
Earlier, Congress leaders Sudip Roy Barman, Ratan Lal Nath and Gopal Roy alleged in the house that after last month’s assembly polls, violence against the opposition party members has been unleashed by the ruling CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) cadres.
“The violence intensified after the declaration of the election result Feb 28. Houses, shops and rubber gardens belonging to Congressmen were either burnt down or damaged in the series of attacks across the state,” Barman said.
He said that many women were raped and people left Tripura for neighbouring Assam and Mizoram, and even Bangladesh, to evade attacks.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, accompanied by Congress general secretary in-charge of the northeastern states Luizinho Faleiro and Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, earlier this month visited Tripura to take stock of the violence.
Gogoi and other Congress leaders also met Tripura Governor D.Y. Patil and requested him to ask the state government to stop the political hostilities and attacks.