I-PAC team still contained at hotel in Tripura for Covid-19 tests

The I-PAC team had arrived in the state last week to probe possibilities for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to expand its base in Tripura. The TMC currently heads the government in neighbouring West Bengal.

Leader of Opposition Manik Sarkar termed the incident a symbol of anarchy. “They can’t be detained in a hotel. Everybody has the right to collect information even though they have differences in political thoughts with us or anyone else. The act of the ruling party implies that they are trying to throttle freedom of people as they are losing the ground beneath their feet,” he said.

On Monday, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had also condemned the move. “The fear in @BJP4Tripura before even @AITCofficial stepped into the land, is more than evident! They are so rattled by our victory in #Bengal that they’ve now kept 23 IPAC employees under house arrest. Democracy in this nation dies a thousand deaths under BJP’s misrule!” he tweeted.

Ashish Lal Singh, state president of the Trinamool Congress, claimed the BJP government has put the I-PAC team under virtual “house arrest” because it is scared of the survey results.