Tension prevailed after a car accident: Youth beaten to death and car torched at Kalishasan tea garden in Kailashahar (Tripura).
Kailashahar (Tripura) Jun 3: A youth was reportedly beaten to death by an enraged mob in Kailashahar area under the Unakoti District of Tripura. The incident took place at the Kalishasan tea garden in Kailashahar on Tuesday.
A speeding Alto car, being driven recklessly in the Kalishasan tea garden area, hit a tea garden worker and fell into a concrete roadside drain. As soon as the car fell into the drain, the driver and the other occupants fled the vehicle and ran into the tea garden to hide.
Soon after, agitated villagers began searching the tea garden for the car’s occupants. After a prolonged search, they found the driver inside the tea garden, beat him mercilessly, and left his body there. On the other hand, the tea garden worker, Logen Orang, suffered a broken leg due to the impact of the car. The angry mob then set the Alto car on fire, completely destroying it.
The driver’s body, identified as Pradip Das, was later found about one kilometer away from the accident site. Preliminary reports indicate that Pradip Das was a resident of Ratiabari in Kumarghat under the Unakoti District.
Upon receiving the news, firefighters from Kailashahar rushed to the scene, extinguished the burning car, and rescued the severely injured tea garden worker, Logen Orang, who was then taken to the Unakoti District Hospital.
In response to the incident, Unakoti District Superintendent of Police Sudhamvika R, Additional SP L. Vanglima Darlong, Kailashahar Sub-Divisional Police Officer Jayanta Karmakar, Kailashahar Police Station OC Sukanta Sen Chowdhury, and a large force of police and TSR personnel arrived at the spot.
While police were identifying the body, another youth named Nirmal Das, who was a passenger in the car, emerged from the nearby tea garden jungle and surrendered to the police. He was taken to Kailashahar Police Station. Nirmal Das is a resident of the Pechartal Bazaar area.
According to Nirmal, there were three people in the car. The owner, Pradip Das, was driving, and Nirmal Das was seated beside him. Another youth named Dipan Debnath was sitting in the back seat. Dipan Debnath is a resident of Kumarghat. After Nirmal surrendered to the police, they asked him to contact Dipan. It is learnt, when Nirmal called up Dipan, the latter said that after fleeing the car, he ran through the tea garden, walked around 5 km to reach the Monuvalley area, got into another vehicle, and returned to his home in Kumarghat.
However, the police have refrained from making any official statements about the entire incident. The whole Kailashahar sub-division remains tense following the events.
