4 arrested in connection with clashes, killing of scribe

Agartala: Four activists of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) were arrested in connection with yesterday’s incidents of violence and the killing of a journalist in the state, the police said today.

Avijit Saptarshi, Superintendent of Police (SP), Tripura West, said, “Sixteen police personnel were injured. Two vehicles were damaged by the IPFT activists at the Mandai and Khumulwung areas of the district.” 

He added that the police were attacked with bows and arrows and bottles and machetes. “We fought pitched battles with the activists in at least five places,” the SP said, adding that the situation was tense but under control.

Santanu Bhowmick, a journalist associated with the ‘Dinrat’ television news channel, was yesterday killed in West Tripura district while he was covering an IPFT agitation. He was reportedly hit from behind and abducted at Mandai.

Bhowmick was subsequently found with serious stab injuries and was rushed to the Agartala Medical College and Hospital, where the doctors declared him “brought dead”. Internet services were suspended across the state in the aftermath of the incident to prevent rumour mongering, the SP said.