People's Democracy

Jawans Foil Extremist Attack On SPO Camp

  AS a part of the Congress-INPT combine’s heinous conspiracy to ceaselessly strike at the excellent and exemplary cooperation between the police and the people in combating insurgency in Tripura, outlawed NLFT extremists carried out on April 4 a vain but vehement bid to exterminate a camp of the Special Police Officers (SPOs) at Maithulongbari under Killa police station of Udaipur subdivision, in South Tripura district. The extremist attack left a valiant jawan of the District Regiment (DAR) of Tripura Police killed and four others including an SPO injured. The attack came hot on the heels of an NLFT ambush in Dhalai district on March 29, killing 5 jawans of the Special Protection Force of Indian Railways and two civilian drivers of their patrolling vehicle.

  At about 4.00 a m on April 4, under cover of power cut, a group of 45 NLFT extremists, wielding heavy and high-tech arms, raided the SPO camp in remote Maithulongbari and opened a volley of gunfire from three sides. The DAR constable on sentry duty fired 7 rounds in retaliation. As soon as he boldly stepped out, the extremists mounted an attack with a rocket launcher, grenades and AK series rifles, and the constable died on the spot. The 37 slumbering jawans inside the camp, including 30 SPOs, promptly prepared themselves to repulse the extremist attack under the leadership of the camp in-charge, with their cumbersome bolt-action 303 rifles, a lone AK 47 and LMG in the camp. The extremists fired 447 rounds from their sophisticated arms during this unequal fight for about half an hour, but had to beat a retreat into dense forests when the District Task Force jawans led by the officer in-charge of Killa police station advanced towards the spot after having heard the gunshots from the campsite. Despite the loss of a DAR jawan and injury to 4 others, the courageous combat of the patriotic SPOs and DAR jawans also foiled any bid to loot arms, that extremists do whenever they attack a security camp.

  According to sources, on April 3 afternoon, an INPT member of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC) held a meeting of INPT leaders and NLFT extremists in an adjacent village, and it was at this meeting that the plan for a pre-dawn raid on the local SPO camp next day was made. Following the incident, an INPT leader was even heard publicly uttering “operation success” in broken English. Placing on alert all police stations and the BSF, the Tripura State Rifles and CRPF immediately launched a massive manhunt to nab the culprits. One culprit was soon arrested and two suspects were held for interrogation. The state’s director general of police announced monetary rewards for the security personnel who took part in courageously rebuffing this extremist attack.

  In separate statements, the state Left Front committee and chief minister Manik Sarkar vehemently condemned this extremist attack on SPO camp. The Left Front viewed this attack as continuation of the Congress-INPT combine’s misinformation campaign to malign the SPOs during the run-up to the February 26 assembly polls in Tripura, in a bid to foil the excellent cooperation between the police and the people in counter-insurgency operations. One will note that these operations went a long way in foiling the combine’s heinous conspiracy to hijack the polls with the help of NLFT guns.

  Following the formation of the Left Front government in Tripura with a massive mandate of the peace-loving and democratic minded people, misguided militants have been surrendering in hordes to the state government, with the futility of insurgency dawning on them. This thing too propelled the political mentors of the militants to mastermind the attack on the SPO camp, the Left Front pointed out. The SPOs comprise family members of those martyred in extremist attacks.

  Meanwhile, in line with the series of surrender of extremists over the past few days, 6 more NLFT extremists returned to the mainstream after laying down arms to the security forces. Three of these extremists surrendered on April 3 at Daluma in South Tripura and three, the day before at Vangmun in North Tripura district.

(INN)