Agartala: Tension ran high at Bamutia Kali Bazar, a local market located on the peripheries of Agartala city in Tripura after a power struggle over a proposed liquor store in the area took an ugly turn.
Heavy security has been deployed all over the market after unidentified miscreants hurled bombs at the site of the under-construction liquor store.
Police said an official complaint was registered soon after the incident, and a manhunt is underway to trace the offenders.
Local MLA Nayan Sarkar, who had been elected to the state assembly on a CPIM ticket, alleged that the whole incident is a fallout of a power tussle within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
According to available information, unidentified miscreants on Tuesday night hurled bombs at two houses that are close to the site of the proposed liquor store.
“One of the bombs exploded, while the other was found in live condition. After examination, it was found that there were crude bombs prepared with locally available materials. These bombs are specially used to create tension in the area.
We have recorded the statements of locals who said that motorcycle-bound miscreants are responsible for the blast. They absconded from the scene before locals could identify them,” OC Bamutia Police Outpost Sanjay Debbarma told EastMojo on Wednesday.
The police also stated further that the footage of CCTV cameras is being examined to trace the miscreants.
Local sources said that soon after it was announced that a licensed liquor store would be opened here in the Kalibazar area, the situation continued to worsen.
“A week ago, activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha met in a mass deputation against the opening of the store. The youth wing of the ruling party argued that the opening of a liquor store in a crowded locality would have a negative impact on society.
There are school-going children who would be badly influenced. The BJP activists had also met the OC of the local police station in connection with the matter,” Badal Chandra Das, a local of the area, told EastMojo.
However, local MLA Nayan Sarkar claimed that the law-and-order situation emerged in his area because of the rift within the ruling party leaders.
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“There are several lobbies active within the ruling party, and each of them wants to control the area. Since 2018, when the first BJP government was formed, there has been a free fall in the law-and-order situation. Being an MLA from the opposition party, I try my best with limited capacity to keep the situation under control,” Sarkar told EastMojo.
He also alleged that the whole Kalibazar market has been converted into a “hotspot” for narcotics smuggling. “The smuggling has increased manifold. The saddest part is that the police administration has totally failed to contain the rise of illegal activities in the area,” the MLA lamented.
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