State to reopen all cases of political violence closed improperly during Left and Cong regimes: Tripura CM Manik Saha

He then referred to the 1983 murder case of Congress MLA Parimal Saha, which was reopened after an order from the high court, and 12 people convicted of the crime were awarded life imprisonment.

The chief minister also sounded a warning to drug cartels and said that his government would not spare anyone using Tripura as a drug corridor.

He said the police have been given a “free hand” during his regime to deal with crime, but they were used as mere “political tools” by previous governments.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman hit out at Saha for his remark on reopening cases of political violence.

“It seems there’s a competition between the former CM (Biplab Kumar Deb) and the incumbent about making baseless comments. If the trial has been completed in a murder case and the judgment pronounced, there is no provision in the law to reopen the case. The CM can best say why he made such a comment,” Roy Barman said.

He also said Saha should have consulted the advocate general and other legal experts before making the comment.

Targeting the BJP, Roy Barman said criminals who had been acquitted due to lack of proof in the past were now the “biggest assets” of the ruling party.

“These people are now in panchayat samitis and other such bodies. It seems there is a factional feud within the BJP and the situation has reached such a stage that the party can’t be reined in unless these warnings are given,” the Congress MLA said.

On April 14, Saha had claimed that 69 political murders took place in the South Tripura district alone between 1988 and 2018, adding that these cases would be reopened after the Lok Sabha polls. In the 30 years till 2018, the Left ruled the state from 1993 to 2018 and the Congress-Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS) coalition government from 1988 to 1993.