The Tripura unit of the CPI(M) accused the BJP-led government in the state of diverting people’s anger by fomenting communal tension.

 Addressing a press conference after the party’s state committee meeting, CPI(M) state secretary and Leader of Opposition in assembly, Jitendra Chaudhury, claimed that people are angry over the “non-performing government, which has failed to address their problems”.

The state committee meeting reviewed the prevailing socio-political and economic issues that have influenced people’s lives in the last one and a half months.

     “Communal incidents at Kadamtala and Pekucherra in North Tripura are nothing but an attempt by the BJP-led government to divert people’s attention from real issues. Law and order have deteriorated, with twin murders in the heart of Agartala and the death of a tribal youth allegedly due to torture by the police,” he said.

 One person was killed when police resorted to firing to disperse mobs of two communities during a clash in Kadamtala on October 6, while communal tension escalated in Pekucherra after attacks on a temple and a mosque on October 15.

     Chaudhury also challenged Chief Minister Manik Saha to reopen old cases of murders.

     “Our chief minister has been threatening to reopen all the old cases of the previous regime. I challenge him to reopen the cases, including the murder of Shyamhari Sharma and two journalists without any further delay to deliver justice,” he said.

     Shyamhari Sharma, a BJP candidate for a by-election, was brutally murdered by unknown attackers during the Congress-TUJS rule in 1991, while two journalists were killed in 2017.

     BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee lambasted the opposition parties for levelling “baseless” allegations over law and order.

     “Law and order in the state is quite good with the chief minister adopting zero tolerance for crimes. The police have been given a free hand to ensure law and order with an iron fist,” he said at a press conference.

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