At least five policemen were injured after a violent mob attacked Ganganagar Police station in Dhalai district of Tripura with a demand to release three NLFT collaborators on Friday night. The attackers were reported to be members of a regional political party of the state.
Police said, three police vehicles were also vandalized in the incident. So aggressive was the attack that the police had to fire two tear shells to disperse the mob.
Speaking with reporters, Kishore Debbarma, Dhalai district Superintendent of Police, said that an extremist-related case was registered at Ganganagar police station based on which three youths were picked up and interrogated on Friday.
It was learned that a contractor had received an extortion letter of a huge sum of rupees from NLFT. When he informed the Ganganagar police a plan was chalked out and a trap was laid at remote Radharambari to nab the extortionists. At around 3.40 pm the three youths appeared at the spot and they were immediately picked up. There were unconfirmed reports said they were carrying firearms but police remained noncommittal on this.
“We had information and during interrogation, we received some evidence including exchange of sim cards which proved that these youths have contact with the militant groups and accordingly they were arrested,” Debbarma said.
When contacted MrinalKantiReang, Officer-in-Charge of Ganganagar police station, said over telephone that three persons- BirenjoyReang, ThomaroyReang and DharenjoyReang were arrested from a jungle on Friday evening for their collaboration with the banned extremist outfit- NLFT.
“Soon after their arrest, a group of people assembled and ran amok in and outside Ganganagar police station demanding immediate release of the three arrested youths. The mob not only attacked the police station but also vandalized three police vehicles including a bus and the official vehicles of Addl SP, Dhalai and SDPO Ambassa,” the police officer said.
However, as soon as the tension built up and there were reports that the mob would attempt to snatch away the three suspected NLFT police secretly shifted them to Ambassa police station.
The mob violence continued for quite some time ultimately forcing to police to open tear shells.
Reangsaid that five to six policemen including TSR personnel had sustained injuries in the incident. The injured policemen were taken to a local hospital immediately after the incident. Two tear shells had to be fired by police to disperse the mob and defuse the unrest, Reang said, adding that the three arrestees were produced before a local court on Saturday.
In the meantime, sources said during interrogation the trio already started spilling the beans and gave many details about connections of the NLFT and some political leaders.
