Tripura bamboo manufacturers' body warns to move court against arbitrary police action

Sepahijala (Tripura) [India], May 1 (ANI): Upset by the recurring losses incurred due to arbitrary police checking in the Assam-Tripura border checkpost, Tripura Bamboo handicrafts manufacturers are contemplating taking legal action against state police for compensation.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, Tripura Bamboo Based Handicrafts Manufacturers and Suppliers Association Secretary Manoj Kumar Debnath said that in the last five to six months, the bamboo-based product manufacturing units had been reeling under severe losses due to the unscientific police checking at the state borders.
According to Debnath, sending consignments by road is a compulsion as other transport mediums, be it post offices, railways and airways, charge higher prices for delivery of goods. Moreover, the roadway network is almost omnipresent all over the country unlike airports and railway stations.
"By road, transportation through lorries is the best possible medium for us. We have been using this transport medium for a long time. For the last four to five months, we are facing new troubles. In the Churaibari checkpoint located at the borders of Assam and Tripura, the police break open our sealed cartons, which eventually cause heavy losses to the delicate and fragile, carefully crafted bamboo products. Most of the bamboo handicraft-carrying lorries form large queues at the checkpost location as police don't allow them to pass without checking. Sometimes, lorries are stopped midway in areas like Teliamura and similarly, cartoons are thrown out from the lorry which causes severe damage to our products," Debnath told ANI.
Debnath also said that the purchasers refuse to pay for the broken products once the consignment reaches them.
"Some of the purchasers refuse to accept the damaged products, while most of them refuse to pay for the products that were found to be in very precarious condition when the cartoons are finally opened after reaching their destination," said Debnath.
The police checking on handicrafts-carrying lorries started extensively after a bamboo-product-loaded truck was impounded in December with huge quantities of ganja inside it.
Stating that they would explore the legal options against Tripura police if the situation persists, Debnath said, "We have submitted detailed letters explaining our problems to the Chief Minister of the state, Director of our department, and other authorities but didn't get any positive response. If the government fails to address our issues, we have no other option but to move the court against the police. We would have filed a case earlier but we waited for the elections to get over. Our committee will soon meet and the final decision in this regard will be taken. In the last four to five months, the 15 to 20 bamboo entrepreneurs of Tripura have suffered losses to the tune of rupees four to five crore."
A copy of the letter that the bamboo handicrafts body submitted to the higher authorities revealed that a total of 25,000 to 30,000 artisans are employed with the units owned by the members of this association. (ANI)