Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Sunday visited violence hit Gandacherra in Tripura’s Dhalai district and announced additional Rs 242.55 crore for relief and developmental projects of the areas, which was devastated by widespread ethnic violence last month.

Dr Saha announced additional Rs 2.30 lakh for the relief of 145 affected families and Rs 6 lakh for the kin of tribal college student, Parameshwar Reang, who succumbed to his injuries on July 12 after being assaulted on July 7.

The state government earlier sanctioned Rs 1.14 crore for the relief of the affected families and Rs 4 lakh for the families of Reang.

Dr Saha visited various locations in the Gandatwisa (Gandacherra) sub-division and met with the victims and family members of the deceased, Parameswar Reang.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Saha mentioned that an unfortunate incident occurred on July 7 during an Ananda Mela, where Parameswar Reang was injured and later died during treatment at GB Pant hospital on July 12.

“When his body was brought to Gandatwisa, several houses were attacked following a protest, and people sought shelter in government-arranged relief camps," said Dr Saha.

Dr Saha, along with Chief Secretary JK Sinha, DGP Amitabh Ranjan, DGP (Int) Anurag, Home Secretary Pradip Chakraborty, and other officials, including Dhalai District Magistrate Saju Vaheed and SP Avinash Rai , visited Gandatwisa.

“I visited many areas and spoke with victims, and also with the deceased's parents and family members. This is a truly sad incident. Upon hearing about it, I, along with the civil and police administration, took steps and monitored the situation. I also visited the relief camps. We have already provided assistance to the victims and the deceased's family," said Dr Saha. He added that the state government had taken further steps.

“To strengthen security in the 33KV and 30 Card areas, we have decided to set up security camps. For the family members of the deceased Parameswar Reang, we provided Rs 6 lakh earlier and have decided to provide an additional Rs 4 lakh," said the Chief Minister.

He mentioned that 101 families were severely affected, and Rs 95,000 had already been transferred to their accounts, with an additional Rs 2.05 lakh to be provided. For those whose property was severely damaged, Rs 50,000 had been provided, and the government will provide an additional Rs 1 lakh.

For those with partly damaged property, Rs 25,000 had been provided, and an additional Rs 25,000 will be received. "A total of 145 families were affected, with Rs 1.14 crore already disbursed. An additional Rs 2.30 crore will be provided," said Dr. Saha.

Dr Saha also mentioned that the state government had previous plans for the development of Gandatwisa.  “For overall development, including the construction of Narayanpur Market, development of the Gandatwisa Ambassa road (51 km in length), development of cage farming for fisheries at Dombur Lake, and other projects, we will spend Rs 239 crore. This amount will be spent on around 17 projects in Gandatwisa," said Dr Saha.

He concluded by emphasizing the importance of peace in the state, stating that development is not possible without peace.  "We are working following PM Modi's vision of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas.' Those who are conspiring will face the law. Strict actions will be taken who will create unrest in the state," he added.

During the visit of Chief Minister, MLA Nandita Reang, MDC Bhumika Nanda Reang, Secretary Revenue and Tribal Welfare, Brijesh Pandey, secretary Social Welfare and Social Education Tapas Roy, Chief Engineer of PWD Rajib Debbarma, Director of Tribal Welfare Subhashish Das were present.

It may be recalled here that after the death of tribal student Reang, a mob burnt down and damaged over 40 houses, 30 shops, and a large number of vehicles in the mixed-populated Gandatwisa area (in Dhalai district), located 130 km from Agartala. The attackers did not even spare cattle and various small animals.

Over 400 men, women and children belonging to 145 families are still sheltered in a special camp since the ethnic violence broke out.

A CPI(M) legislature team led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Tripura Assembly Jitendra Chaudhury and Congress delegation led by state Congress President Asish Kumar Saha last week separately visited the Gandatwisa areas.

The CPI(M) demanded impartial investigation of the violence by constituting a Special Investigating Team (SIT) while the Congress sought Judicial probe.

The Tripura Human Rights Commission (THRC) also expressed shock and dismay over the ethnic violence in Gandatwisa and served notice to the Director General of Police and the District Magistrate of Dhalai district, officials said.

The three-member rights panel, headed by Swapan Chandra Das, retired Tripura High Court judge, said that inaction or negligence on the part of public servants in preventing the commission of a violation of human rights is also actionable and, therefore, the notices are issued to submit the preliminary report within three weeks for further course of action.