Agartala: A TIPRA Motha party office located at Kahmting Bari area in the foothills of Barmura hills, now rechristened as Hatai Kotor, was set ablaze allegedly by a group of armed miscreants on Sunday late night in Tripura.
The party activists, who witnessed the incident, claimed that local BJP leader Dhanya Bahadur Molsom led the attack on the office of the state’s main opposition party, Central Committee Working President of Youth TIPRA Federation (YTF) Jiten Debbarma told EastMojo.
An FIR was lodged on Monday naming a couple of local BJP Janajati Morcha leaders that include Dhanya Bahadur Molsom, Tapan Debbarma and Sukhen Debbarma, he added.
According to the TIPRA Motha youth leader, a joining programme was organised on Sunday by BJP Janajati Morcha leaders in close proximity to the TIPRA Motha party office.
“When we were informed by our local leaders that some of the BJP men had been trying to lure our supporters by promising PM Awas Yojana houses and other government benefits to join their party, our volunteers gathered at the party office. However, by the time we reached there, the joining programme was over. Even as the BJP claimed several TIPRA Motha supporters switched over to BJP in the event, in reality they had hired supporters from other districts to fill the sitting arrangements,” Debbarma said.
As the event passed off peacefully, he said, the TIPRA activists returned to their work. Later in the night, some of our local volunteers were playing carom inside the party office apart from discussing the party activities. “Around 11 pm, a group of armed miscreants alighted from two four wheelers and launched an unprovoked attack,” he said.
“Our supporters had left the spot as they were threatened at the gun point. They were wielding sharp edged weapons as well. The office was vandalized and later set on fire,” he told EastMojo.
Dear Reader,
Every day, our team at EastMojo travels through rain, rough roads, and remote hills to bring you stories that matter – stories from your town, your people, your Northeast.
We do this because we believe in truthful, independent journalism. No big corporate backing, no government pressure – just honest reporting by local journalists who live and breathe the same air you do.
But to keep doing this work, we need you. Your small contribution helps us pay our reporters fairly, reach places others ignore, and keep asking the tough questions.
If you believe the Northeast deserves its own fearless voice, stand with us.
Support independent journalism. Be a Member.
Thank you,
Karma Paljor
Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
He alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party avenged their poor show of strength in the event by resorting to violent means.
On being contacted, BJP Janajati Morcha general secretary Devid Debbarma refused to comment on the issue. He said, “We did not receive any information related to the incident.”
Sources said, rebel BJP leader Bidyut Debbarma, who had been recently dropped from the post of Janajati Morcha general secretary, had organised the event without any prior notice of the party’s state leadership.
Also Read | Tripura: Drunk driver kills 2; irate mob ransacks hospital in Unakoti