Opposition protest affects normal life in Tripura

Agartala (Tripura) [India], November 23 (ANI): Normal life was totally paralyzed on Thursday due to the dawn-to-dusk strike called by the Opposition BJP and Congress in Tripura to protest the killing of journalist Sudip Datta Bhowmik.

Bhowmik was allegedly killed by the Tripura State Rifles after calling him inside the Commandants office of the second battalion at R K Nagar.

Abhijit Saptarshi, Superintendent of Police, West Tripura, said though the train services and flights were moving normally, private and public vehicles remained off the road.

He informed that there were reports of sporadic incidents of violence between the ruling party and the Opposition.

The media fraternity here has left their editorial page blank as a mark of protest against the murder.

Manas Paul, Editor of Tripura Times, said, "As far as the institutional protest is concerned, we decided to keep our editorial space blank in protest of the murder of journalist Bhowmik by the TSR. There is no editorial in today's almost all paper."

"It was a cold-blooded murder," alleged Pradip Datta Bhowmik, the news editor of Danik Samba, who is also the elder brother of the slained journalist.

The BJP supporters and senior leaders have gheraoed the gate of Tripura Legislative Assembly, where huge number of police personnel and paramilitary forces were deployed to avoid any untoward incident.

BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb, observer Sunil Deodhar, MLAs Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Kumar Saha and other leaders protested the killing and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who also holds the Home portfolio.

They raised anti-Manik Sarkar slogans and alleged that he should resign as he failed to give security to people of the state.

Deodhar said, "There has been cases of murder of CPI(M) minister, Congress MLA, senior state government official, BJP supporters and two journalists of the state under Manik Sarkar's chief ministership."

"From the spontaneous support of 37 lakh population of the state to today's strike, it is clear that they do not want Sarkar to be in the chair any more and he should morally step down," he added.

The BJP state president also alleged that there have been few incidents of ruling CPI(M) sponsored attacks on BJP supporters and their offices at various places.

Deb said, "At Aralia our supporters have been attacked and we got the information that in bordering Bakshanagar CPI(M) has brought at least 150 Bangladeshi hooligans who attacked our office and supporters."

A BJP office was reportedly ransacked in Bakshanaga, while in the outskirts of Agartala two CPI(M) cadres sustained injuries when allegedly attacked by the former.(ANI)