‘Daredevil’ cop shot at

Decorated officer-in-charge wounded in Tiger Force attack

Agartala, Feb 11 : A rejuvenated All Tripura Tiger Force took on a combined force of police and Tripura State Rifles jawans in an encounter today, wounding officer-in-charge of West Tripura’s Champahaor police station, Shyamal Debbarma, a recipient of the President’s gallantry award on Republic Day this year. The injured police official is undergoing treatment at G.B. Hospital here and his condition is stated to be out of danger.  A massive manhunt has been launched in the outlying areas of Champahaor police station by a combined team of police and TSR (6th battalion) jawans. No arrest has so far been reported.  Deputy inspector-general (operations), Nepal Das, said Debbarma, known as a “daredevil” officer, had curbed militant activities in vulnerable hilly areas through a long series of operations ever since he had joined the troubled Champahaor police station early last year. “He has become a target of the Tiger Force militants active in the area because of his proactive counter-insurgency operations,” Das said. He said Debbarma had received feedback from sources yesterday that a group of armed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) rebels had been moving in the remote Nandakumarpara and Tuibaklai areas, and planned to launch a pre-emptive strike. Debbarma, accompanied by police and TSR jawans, had trekked 12km to reach and conduct search operations in the areas last night but failed to track down the militants. While the OC was leading the combined force on their way back to Champahaor police station, the Tiger Force militants, perched atop hills near Tuibaklai area, opened fire. In the firing, a bullet hit Debbarma’s left hand while another whizzed across his chest leaving minor burn injury marks. The TSR and police jawans retaliated with heavy firing, forcing the militants to flee the area. The troops thereafter took the injured officer-in-charge to the police station. Debbarma was first admitted to Khowai subdivisional hospital and then shifted to G.B. Hospital. Director-general of police Pranay Kumar Sahay and additional director-general of police C. Balasubramanian visited the hospital shortly after being briefed about the attack and Debbarma’s injury. “We are proud of him and will do everything to ensure that he gets the best possible medical treatment,” Sahay said. He said a massive combing operation was on in the outlying areas of Champahaor police station to track down the militants. The DGP also recalled the “supreme sacrifices” made by some brave police officers in the state during the past 15 years of insurgency. In 1996, deputy superintendent of police Amal Bikash Chakma died in a blast in Dhalai district. In 2000, Sadhan Nandi, the officer-in-charge of Natun Bazar police station in Amarpur subdivision, died in a grenade blast. In 2001, deputy superintendent of police Manoranjan Debbarma, was shot dead by Tiger Force rebels in Jirania. In 2002, Chandan Debbarma, sub-inspector of Takarjala police station, was killed in an operation against NLFT militants. In 2006, another sub-inspector, Apon Barman, was shot dead in an ambush on the Assam-Agartala highway.