Curfew clamped in Tripura’s Charilam after BJP workers’ protest against Congress programme turns violent

Speaking to indianexpress.com, senior Congress leader and former MLA Ashish Kumar Saha said nearly 600 people from 153 families joined the party from the BJP in Charilam during an event on Monday afternoon and the local police authorities were informed about it several days in advance. Saha said they did not get permission to hold the event citing Covid rules but his party went ahead with the programme.

“Many BJP leaders in the area contacted us for joining Congress for quite some time. We went there to have them join us right in front of the party office which was burnt a few years back. But BJP activists from a party office, some 100 metre away from our programme venue, tried to provoke our workers and made aggressive displays when the police repelled them,” said Saha.

Saha added on their way back to Agartala, Congress leaders learnt that some miscreants attacked the derelict party office, tried to burn it, and damaged the party’s flags and police action was taken to thwart them.

Congress leaders said that they met IG (Law and Order) Arindam Nath and DIG (Northern Range) G S Rao late in the evening and sought police protection for the party’s leaders and supporters for future political activities.

“We have told us not to compel us to take law into our own hands. We have told them everything. The police have assured us to take the necessary steps. We believe they will do it,” MLA and former minister Sudip Roy Barman told reporters.

Later in the night, Deputy CM Jishnu Dev Varma visited the area and said Congress held the political event at Charilam even after the police denied permission. He accused the Congress activists of perpetrating violence and injuring “many BJP followers”.

“It is condemnable that two senior leaders violated police guidelines and acted irresponsibly by violating the law, overruling police denial to hold a gathering there. Congress is a team of hooligans all their lives,” said Dev Varma.

He also said his party has filed a complaint against Congress over the incident.

A senior police official, who didn’t wish to be named, told indianexpress.com that a suo motu complaint was being registered over the issue at the local police station. No one was arrested till the latest reports came in.