Tripura Police foil militant attack ahead of Independence Day; 2 held with explosives

Hours before the Independence Day celebration, security forces in Tripura, on Thursday, foiled a militant attack on the police and arrested two extremists and recovered huge explosives from them, officials said.

A senior police official said that specific inputs of sabotage by an armed group having links with the Reang (Bru) outfit -- Tripura United National Front (TUNF) -- have been received.

"Based on the intelligence inputs, an ambush was laid on Kanchanpur-Vangmun highway. On Thursday evening active cadres of the group (TUNF) Dhananjoy Reang and Sadai Nanda Reang were nabbed in front of the Eden tourist lodge under Vangmun police station in North Tripura district," the official added.

Dhananjoy Reang hails from Katlichhera in Hailakandi district of southern Assam and Sadai Nanda Reang is a resident of Kasko under Damcherra areas of north Tripura district.

High end explosive materials were recovered from them, he said.

According to the police official, the main target of the militants was to kill police or security forces personnel deployed in connection with Independence Day celebration and loot arms and ammunition to strengthen their newly-formed TUNF group operating from Assam.

The official said that the militant group (TUNF) is in the formation stage, and added that the basic target of the outfit was to carry out attacks on police and security vehicles and loot weapons for the group.

"The group has also been planning to do subversive activities in Kanchanpur subdivision to get maximum attention on the eve of this Independence Day. The State Intelligence wing has been closely monitoring the inputs on ground for the last two days in coordination with north Tripura district police," the official added.

The official said that through this successful operation, a significant breakthrough against a potential cross border militant group could be achieved.

"A major incident has also been averted due to the pro-active role played by Tripura Police," the official added.

Meanwhile, on September 24 last year, altogether 584 extremists of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) outfits surrendered and deposited before the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha at a surrender ceremony at the Tripura State Rifles seventh battalion headquarters at Jampuijala in Sepahijala district.

The militants of the two outfits surrendered to the Tripura government after the signing of the peace agreement with the Centre and Tripura government in Delhi on September 4 last year in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister, other political leaders and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Tripura government.