Agartala, Jan. 15: Bangladesh Rifles jawans have directed militant commanders to abandon their bases and take shelter in rented houses in residential areas. Reports from across the border said over the past month, militants have deserted their camps in Sylhet, Maulvi Bazar and Habiganj districts of Bangladesh, bordering North Tripura, Dhalai district and Khowai and Sadar (north) subdivisions of West Tripura district.
Official sources from North Tripura said a camp at Kukijhuri in Sylhet district adjacent to Kumarghat in North Tripura had been burnt down after the militants left.
?The camp housed 40 militants and had a large cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition. The militants were allowed to shift safely with all possessions by the BDR,? a source said. The largest All Tripura Tiger Force camp, at Satcherri, under Habiganj district opposite Simna area in Sadar (north) has been recently deserted.
The NLFT camps located in Khasiapunji, Ranirgaon Bazar, Kurma, Naynarpar, Kandigaon and Kukijhuri have been deserted by militants at the BDR?s behest.
Sources said NLFT commander Rajkanta Debbarma, prime accused in the assassination of former health minister Bimal Sinha in bordering Avanga under Kamalpur subdivision on March 31 1998, has been recently spotted in Srimangal town.
Describing the action initiated by the BDR as a ?mere eyewash?, sources said the paramilitary force would do nothing as they continue to be on the regular payroll of the anti-Indian militants. The state police are also gearing up to co-ordinate and undertake largescale counter-insurgency operations in North Tripura and Dhalai district.
The inspector-generals of police Amitava Kar and T.K.Sanyal have toured the sensitive areas of the two districts from January 10 to give finishing touches to an action plan against the banned militant outfits.
In a related development, the failure of the state government to provide adequate arms and ammunition to the Tripura State Rifles jawans of the 9th and 10th battalion has triggered a major controversy.
In November last year, 1,200 TSR jawans of the two battalions passed out in the first phase following completion of their training in the presence of chief minister Manik Sarkar.
But most of them have been deployed on security duties for VIPs. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior police official said at the time of passing out, the jawans of the 9th and 10th battalions had been given only old and used arms, which would be futile against the militants armed with sophisticated weapons.