Tiger Force, NLFT locked in turf war

AGARTALA, February 6: After lying low for a long time, the outlawed All-Tripura Tiger Force militants have started regrouping for a major strike to reclaim their area of dominance from the Church-backed NLFT militants in Sadar (North) and interior areas of Khowai subdivision. As many as 50 heavily-armed Tiger Force militants are waiting across the border to sneak into their base areas in Sadar (North) and Khowai subdivisions. Official agencies keeping tabs on the movement of militants have received information that more than 50 Tiger Force rebels are set to enter Tripura after receiving training at their base camps in Bangladesh. Sources said since early last year, Tiger Force militants had been on the defensive in the face of an onslaught by rival NLFT rebels, who gradually took over the interior areas of Khowai and Sadar (north) subdivisions. A number of Tiger Force rebels, including collaborators, died in a series of clashes with the NLFT marauders while many others were forced to join the rival outfit over the past year. Sources said the surprise victory of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) in the Autonomous District Council polls with the help of the NLFT last year also put the Tiger Force on the defensive. The Tiger Force, which has several camps at Satcherri in Habiganj district of Bangladesh, decided to reclaim lost ground after training the new recruits . Sources said instructors from the ULFA and the Bangladeshi paramilitary forces provided training to the new recruits. The Tiger Force launched its offensive on January 14 with the killing of three NLFT collaborators in the Daigyabari area under Sidhai police station. On February 4, another group of Tiger Force rebels shot dead two tribal youth suspected to be collaborators of the NLFT in North Maharani area under Kalyanpur police station. Sources said the infiltration of the larger number of Tiger Force militants in the interior areas of Khowai and Sadar (north) subdivisions would result in more clashes with the NLFT and consequent destabilisation of the tribal-dominated areas. Senior police officials said security has been beefed up in view of the possibility of fresh violence involving the Tiger Force and the NLFT. Combing operation is still on to rescue the 21 volunteers of the Jamatya "Hoda", who were abducted on January 29.