Militants set 21 Jamatya tribals free in Tripura

AGARTALA, February 8: The National Liberation Front of Twipra released 21 volunteers of the Jamatya Hoda (community council) this morning following intensive combing operations by the police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans over the past week. The Jamatya Hoda (community council) had also taken a tough stand against the rebels. The hostages were freed near the remote Nitya Bazar area under Killa police station. The Hindu Jamatya tribals had been fighting the Church-backed NLFT under the leadership of Hoda Okra (head priest and community leader) Bikram Bahadur Jamatya over the past year. Shortly after receiving information about their return, Bikram Bahadur Jamatya rushed to Killa along with his deputies Haricharan Jamatya and Rampada Jamatya. Inspector-general (law and order) K. Salim Ali described the return of the volunteers as a "big achievement" and attributed it to the relentless combing operations. The joint operations by the police and TSR personnel were led by superintendent of police (South) T.B. Roy and additional SP Arindam Nath. The IG, who was camping in Udaipur, headquarters of South Tripura district, to co-ordinate rescue operations, said, "The intensive nature of the vigil robbed the militants of breathing space and they were forced to free the hostages." The additional SP is now trying to trace the six non-tribal woodcutters abducted by the NLFT from the remote Elongbari area under Udaipur police station on Tuesday. The mass abduction of 21 volunteers of the Jamatya Hoda by the NLFT on January 29 had sparked tension in the Killa police station areas as the Autonomous District Council (ADC) leadership refused to co-operate with the police. But community council chief Bikram Bahadur Jamatya remained firm in his resolve to carry on his struggle against the NLFT and the police launched a massive search operation to rescue the volunteers. In a separate incident, NLFT militants hacked to death a tribal civilian in remote Dhanlekha village under Taidu police station in South Tripura last night. Police sources said a group of NLFT militants stormed Madhav Koloi's house and hacked him to death on the spot and injured his wife. Sources said the killing may be a fallout of Koloi's refusal to contribute to the NLFT coffers. Police also arrested a hardcore NLFT militant yesterday while a "commander" of the outfit laid down arms at Gandacherra police station on February 1. The "self-styled" area commander, Balaram Reang (21), surrendered unconditionally. Sources said Balaram's father Niranjan Reang, who was an area commander of the NLFT, died in a police encounter last year.