8 tribals kidnapped from Tripura

Agartala, Jul 21 : A massive combing operation has been launched to trace out the poor tribals, including two CPI(M) leaders, who were kidnapped by the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants yesterday from the remote Debendra Karbaripara in Dhalai district of North Tripura.

Police said here today that the TSR along with the Assam Rifles personnel had launched a manhunt in the area to rescue the kidnapped people. The BSF jawans were also put on a high alert in the porous eastern border with Bangladesh.

According to a report, the heavily-armed NLFT militants raided the village in the late hours of July 18 and kidnapped four tribal villagers, including local CPI(M) leaders--Arun Chakma (35) and Ganja Chakma (45)--along with two other innocent tribals Sudhyajoy Chakma (35) and Ratanjoy Chakma (27) at gunpoint.

On their way back, they had detained four others identified as Baisakh Chakma (30), Sumanta Chakma (30), Kahindra Tripura (35) and Fallenjoy Tripura (25) who were returning home after work.

This was the third kidnapping incident of the state this year.