Tripura BJP leader stabbed at former CM Biplab Kumar Deb’s constituency, 2 arrested

An online statement issued by the Tripura Police said, “One Suman Das was attacked this morning by a sharp cutting weapon in the Aralia area, Agartala. He could identify and share the names of two attackers during treatment. Both of them have been arrested. Prima facie it is a case of business rivalry. Patrolling has been intensified.”

“A case was registered based on the complaint given to us,” said assistant inspector general (law and order) Jyotisman Das Chowdhury.

Alleging Congress-backed miscreants were behind the incident, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said proper action would be taken against the culprits.

“Such violence used to happen before we came to power. To get rid of this, people voted us to power. Now, those miscreants allied with the CPM to destroy law and order. The Election Commission will look into it and we shall bring the matter to their attention,” Dr Saha said.

After meeting the injured leader, Biplab Deb said, “Names have been mentioned in the FIR. Action will be taken.”

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP sternly opposed the police statement which termed the incident as an outcome of “business rivalry” and said the police statement was wrongly given.

Speaking to reporters at the BJP state election office in Agartala Tuesday evening, Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ratan Lal Nath said though two people were arrested over the incident, they included only one in the FIR. The named accused person and three others, who are the prime accused, have not been arrested yet, he said.

“When they (the police) complete the investigation, they will say. A preliminary idea is another thing. A prima facie statement has no value to us. We will accept it when it is estimated and submitted in a court of law. It is a hurried statement. The issue should not be taken lightly,” he said.

Explaining why his party has taken critical note of the state police’s official tweet, Nath said, “If they have said it is a business rivalry just hours after the FIR was registered, they have made a mistake. Without investigating, an FIR can’t be taken prima facie. But if the police had said so, they have said without investigation and it is wrong. They can’t say this way. If they have said so, we shall take this in the view of ECI since the Election Commission is looking after everything now.”

Without naming anyone, the law minister also said a section of police are making “false comments without regard for law” and reiterated that the issue would be taken up as a formal complaint with the Election Commission.

“How can they comment about the issue just two-three hours after the complaint was registered? You can’t comment within a day. The accused was not forwarded yet. We shall refer to this tweet and shall ask why it was given before all the accused persons were arrested,” the minister said.