Agartala: Tripura Police on Wednesday revealed that the Tuesday night shootout at Natun Nagar in the suburbs of Agartala was due to a gang war between two mafia groups active in the area.
Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sadar Ajay Kumar Das said it was the result of an old rivalry between two gangs engaged in a power tussle to get control of negotiation deals for different projects in the area.
The fall out that took an ugly turn, leading to the shooting.
“We have arrested two persons already. They had been produced before the court with a prayer of five days police remand. Three more persons are named in the FIR lodged with West Agartala police station and separate teams have been pressed into action for the manhunt”, said Das.
Two men — Haripada Das (37) and Sanjay Das — had sustained bullet injuries in the incident that took place around 8.30 pm on Tuesday.
Earlier, Chief Minister Manik Saha reacted to the issue and said under no circumstance would the police compromise with the law and order situation. “Our stand is clear; when we talk about law and order issues, the police has been asked to adopt the policy of zero tolerance. Such activities can’t be tolerated,” said Saha.
The CM also said the law and order has only improved in recent years. “I can prove it with data; how the law and order situation has been improving. Otherwise, in the previous regimes it was a free run for anti-social elements,” he said.
The SDPO said all evidence are being examined. “The CCTV footage, vehicles that passed through the road at that time, and eyewitness accounts are being examined by the police.
Prima facie evidence suggests that Santos Das was on the hit list of the assailants. Two vehicles that were used for committing the crime have been seized. Three more people who have been named in the FIR are Raju Barman, Biman Das and Sandip Kar alias Akash. All of them are absconding at the moment,” said Das.
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