One of the three teams comprising of Left-Congress MPs and AICC leaders which arrived in Tripura on Friday on a two-day visit to probe the incidents of post-poll violence and interact with the affected people, was allegedly attacked following which it has made changes in its schedule.
The members of the Congress-Left team include, P.R. Natarajan, Ranjita Ranjan, A.A. Rahim, Abdul Khalique (Lok Sabha) and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Vinay Viswam, and Elaram Karim (Rajya Sabha).
CPI-M Tripura state secretary and newly elected MLA Jitendra Chaudhury on Friday night said that the team has been compelled to suspend its outdoor programmes scheduled for Saturday “in the face of a gruesome attack unleashed upon them at Nehalchandra Nagar Bazar (Bisalgarh), on Friday evening”.
Similar provocations also happened in other places as well, he said.
Congress and CPI-M sources said that when the members of the joint team were on a visit to the violence-hit Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district, “some people backed by the ruling BJP attacked them and damaged three vehicles”.
“The MPs and the accompanying Congress and CPI-M leaders quickly left the place and escaped the major attack,” a CPI-M statement said on Friday night.
Local BJP workers also obstructed the visiting parliamentary delegation at Mohanpur in Western Tripura.
A police statement said while the MPs accompanied by the local MLAs and leaders made an unscheduled visit to Nehal Chandra Nagar (Bishalgarh), some sloganeering was done.
“The accompanying police escort team responded quickly and rescued the delegation safely. Senior officers were at the spot. No injury to any person has been reported. Damage to 2-3 vehicles has been reported. One suspect has been detained. Raids are on to identify and arrest other miscreants,” the statement said.
Condemning the incident, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “A delegation of Congress leaders was attacked by BJP goons today in Bishalgarh and Mohanpur in Tripura. Police accompanying the delegation did nothing. And tomorrow, the BJP is having a victory rally there. Victory of party-sponsored violence.”
Leaders of Congress and the CPI-M said that the parliamentary team, comprising four MPs of Lok Sabha and three MPs of Rajya Sabha, divided into three groups, were on a visit to the violence-hit villages and urban areas of three districts — West Tripura, Sepahijala and Gomati.
The MLAs and leaders of the Congress and the CPI-M had accompanied the Parliamentary team.
Chaudhury further said that over 1,000 incidents of violence have taken place since March 2, injuring over 200 people, including women and children.
Many people fled from their homes and took shelter in the jungle, different places and outside the state to save their lives, he said.
Chaudhury, also a CPI-M central committee member, said that the police in most cases remained a silent spectator and refused to register FIRs.
Some people, following the violent incidents, were detained for a while but were let off later, he told the media.
Left Front convener Narayan Kar said that at least three persons were killed while over 200 people were injured in the series of incidents of violence in all eight districts after the announcement of February 16 assembly polls on March 2.
