Five CPI-M workers, 2 policemen hurt in Tripura

Agartala  :  In the first incident of pre-poll violence in Tripura, some rival activists on Friday attacked supporters of a candidate of the ruling CPI-M in Takarjala, injuring five Left members and two policemen, police said.

Inspector General of Police K.V. Sreejesh told IANS that no one had been arrested and a hunt had been launched for the attackers.

Tripura Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Secretary Bijan Dhar, in a letter to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti, said that during an election campaign by Takarjala candidate Ramendra Debbarma, some Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) cadres attacked a car accompanying him and his supporters, injuring five CPI-M members.

The injured were shifted to a government hospital.

"Without any provocation, IPFT goons also ransacked the CPI-M office at Takarjala and demolished it though it was situated close to the Takarjala police station. The attack took place in front of the police who did not try to stop the miscreants," the letter said.

"The IPFT is an electoral partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This incident has vindicated our previous apprehensions as the IPFT had made a series of unprovoked attacks on CPI-M supporters earlier too."

The Left party demanded immediate deployment of paramilitary forces in Takarjala, Golaghati and Ampinagar Assembly constituencies, all reserved for tribals, to ensure a free, fair and smooth election on February 18.

After forging an electoral alliance with the IPFT, the BJP has fielded 51 candidates and left nine seats for the junior partner.

The IPFT since 2009 has been agitating for a separate state by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.