TRIPURAHERALD

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Friday alleged widespread violence in the recently held Panchayat election in West Bengal and castigated the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee.

The Chief Minister was addressing the karyakartas of the ruling BJP party in a function in the South Tripura district on Friday.

“Democracy is at stake in West Bengal. I invite the TMC leaders to come to Tripura and learn what democracy is,” Dr. Saha said. He condemned the TMC workers for their involvement in the killing of BJP party workers during the electoral process.   

The Chief Minister urged his party workers to visit the houses of TMC supporters in Tripura and acknowledge them about the violent incidents that unfolded during the West Bengal elections, resulting in the unfortunate loss of 18 lives.

Dr. Saha said that the TMC’s history of violence extended beyond targeting common citizens and also included their own party workers.

Claiming that the 2023 assembly election held in Tripura was violence-free and peaceful, Dr. Saha on Friday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should visit Tripura to learn how elections can be conducted peacefully.

Union Minister of State, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik on Thursday said with the double-engine government development of Tripura has been put on the fast track. The BJP-led Tripura government did a wonderful job in developing road, railway networks in the state in the last five years.

Addressing in the inaugural ceremony of the new building of Gramin Bank in Kathaliya under Dhanpur assembly constituency Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik said the BJP’s double-engine government at the Centre and in the State is gradually turning Tripura into a “trade gateway and logistics hub” of northeast India. During the programme Union Minister of State Pratima Bhoumik handed over loans to 110 beneficiaries.

Tripura has progressed a lot, including infrastructure development, good governance and other services, since 2018 when the BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) government came to power in the state. Union Minister of State, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik pointed out that much development has taken place in the state in the areas of highways, railways and digitisation. A lot of development has also taken place in the areas of digitisation and railway connectivity. The schemes of the both the central and state governments have also helped the state a lot,” she said.

Tripura has created a model of ‘good governance and protection of people’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of the state would have to carry forward the tradition, she added.

The BJP-led Tripura government is working for overall development of the people of the state. Our main aim is to how we can help people and how they can be benefitted. Our government is working to provide all kinds of benefits to people and keeping a close eye on their problems. Our main priority is to solve the basic problems of common people, she added.

 Tripura Police seized a hefty amount of contraband items from a vehicle at Chelikhala Naka point under Bishalgarh police station on Wednesday night. The contraband items which were seized are Eskuf Syrup.

The police stated, an eco car bearing number TR07E0595 which was coming from Agartala towards Sonamura was stopped at Chelikhala Naka point by ASI Shyamal Debbarma of the traffic police along with CRPF jawan. During a meticulous search of the vehicle, they found  Eskuf Syrup packed in nine boxes. The arrested driver has been identified as Manu Miah resident of Sonamura, Rangamatia area.

Moreover, the estimated value of the confiscated Eskuf Syrup in the illicit market amounts to approximately Rs 3 lakh. The seized Eskuf Syrup was intended for smuggling to Bangladesh, police said.

However, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha has called on Tripura to get rid of drugs. Police are seizing crores worth of heroin, brown sugar and arresting traffickers, but the real kingpins remain out of reach, which is why the state is not moving towards a drug-free state despite so many anti-drug campaigns.

The Bishalgarh forest department officials on Thursday seized an illegal saw mill at Akshay Chowmuhani in NC Nagar area under Bishalgarh sub-division.

According to a forest official, the machine was used for cutting timber. But the machine was lying unused for quite a long time. We received information that an illegal saw mill at Akshay Chowmuhani in NC Nagar was present. After getting the information a team of forest department staffs rushed to the spot and seized the machine, said the forest official.

 The state transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Thursday said that the flight service from Agartala MBB Airport to Chittagong connecting Bangladesh is in the advanced stage and shall start soon.

Responding to the query of the CPI-M MLA Jitendra Choudhury in the fourth day of the assembly session on Thursday, the minister said, “For the flight service, which was supposed to start by June this year, low-cost carrier SpiceJet has got the contract for operation of flight between Tripura and Chittagong in Bangladesh under the UDAN Scheme.”

Meanwhile, the minister informed that the government is contemplating to resume air service from Kailasahar in Unakoti district of the state to enhance connectivity of the state. He said, “The BJP government has initiated a move to resume air service from the airport for the benefit of the people.”

“There is a requirement of an additional 75 acres of land for resumption of air service. The Unakoti District Magistrate has been asked to prepare a project report for the Kailashahar airport”, he said, adding that the state has also has the DPR prepared by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for opening a new greenfield airport at Kailashahar in Hiracherra tea estate.

Both the proposals are being deliberated upon for resuming air connectivity from Kailashahar, the headquarters of Unakoti district, he added.

 Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Thursday assured of thorough investigation into the mysterious recovery of a human skull from the sacred Kalyan Sagar lake of Tripurasundari Temple.

The human skull was recovered on Wednesday morning triggering shocks and tension among the locals of Udaipur in Gomati district.  

Responding to a query raised by Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma during the 4th day of the budget session of the Tripura Legislative Assembly on Thursday, Dr. Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, informed that the police and the forensic department is actively looking into the matter.

He said, “We have already received the CCTV footage from the temple surroundings, which would be crucial for the investigation. The Kalyan Sagar water body had been thoroughly searched, with expert underwater divers from the Tripura State Rifles (TSR).”

“In accordance with religious customs, a ban on the movement of the general public and the performance of traditional rituals at Kalyan Sagar has been imposed for the next 42 days,” he said.

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Wednesday said that the government is contemplating to regulate the fees and donations of the private-run schools to ensure accessibility and affordability.

Dr. Saha informed this in a third day of the assembly session in reply to the query of the MLA Birajit Sinha and MLA Ranjit Debbarma.

“Government is considering formulating a committee to find the feasibility of exploring the issues related to the regulation of fee structure and donations of the private run schools,” Dr. Saha said.

The Chief Minister, who also holds the education portfolio, said that the objective of regulating the fees is to ensure that the fees charged by private schools are reasonable and within the reach of parents.  

The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee along with the rest of the party units in the country on Wednesday joined the ‘Maun Satyagraha’ agitation programme here at Agartala Gandhighat against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament.

The Congress President Ashish Kumar Saha accompanied by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Szarita Laitphlang, MLA Sudip Roy Barman and other leaders joined the programme.

Leading the event, the PCC president Ashish Kumar Said termed Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as ‘illegal’. He said, “Prime Minister Narednra Modi and his government hatched a deep conspiracy against Gandhi by disqualifying him from the Parliament ahead of the Lok Sabha election.”

Meanwhile, the party MLA Sudip Roy Barman said, “The democracy of the country is in danger, where people are not allowed to speak and agitate against the wrong policy of the government. Rahul Gandhi has raised some questions for the people of the country in Parliament and for this, a conspiracy was hatched against him, and lost his post as MP.”

Tripura police arrested one Bangladesh national for allegedly staying without passport in Latiapura area in Kailashahar Sub-Division under Irani police station in a late-night operation on Tuesday.

The police stated that, they got information of a Bangladesh national roaming in Latiapura area, accordingly police personnel from Irani police station along with TSR rushed to the spot and arrested the Bangladesh national.  Police found one Bangladeshi mobile and Rs 160 in Indian currency from him. He was produced before the court on July 12.

Later the person who was arrested by the police personnel from Irani police station confessed that he was a citizen of Bangladesh and that he had entered India illegally a month ago without passport.

The arrested Bangladesh national has been identified as Nakul Debnath son of Banamali Debnath, resident of Majlishpur village in Sunamganj district of Bangladesh.

The arrested Bangladesh national Nakul Debnath said that he paid Rs 5000 to a agent to enter illegally in India and on July 11 again he contacted the agent to go back to Bangladesh from India.  The police have registered a case against Nakul Debnath under the Passport Act.

We launched a hunt to track down the ‘Agents’ who are facilitating the infiltration of the people from Bangladesh. The agents locally known as ‘Linemen’ are active in specific border areas marked for the intrusion from across the border. The places are fenced and guarded, but the ‘Linemen’ have the access and the ability to transfer the people through safe corridors in lieu of money. Most of the infiltration bids occurred during the night and the Agents arranged ladders on both sides of the fencing to smuggle men and women who pay for the service, said the cops.