A group of miscreants purportedly backed by opposition CPI(M) allegedly attacked the ancestral home of former CM Biplab Kumar Deb located at Jamjuri village under Gomati District of Tripura late on Tuesday night. However, the police refuted the allegations of any attacks and said that three shops were gutted by fire and two persons sustained injuries during the political clashes between BJP and CPIM.

According to locals, some people were busy arranging his father Hirudhan Deb’s annual rites. A lot of people were present at the moment when a gang of miscreants launched an unprovoked attack on the house.

A number of motorcycles and cars parked at the location were vandalized. A press statement issued by Deb’s office said that CPIM MLA Ratan Bhowmik had addressed the party workers at the same location. After the party meeting the unprecedented incident took place.

Speaking on the issue, Jitendra Kaushik, a resident of Delhi who had arrived here to participate in the religious rituals said that a mob of people attacked his car when he was heading towards Deb’s home to oversee the arrangements. “I am a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court. I have been sent by our Gurudev to oversee the arrangements. Suddenly a frenzied group of Muslim people attacked us.

They were shouting that only CPIM will return to power”, said Kaushik. CPIM State Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury has debunked the allegations and said no CPIM worker was involved in the attacks. He further alleged that it was the BJP backed miscreants who had attacked the local CPIM party office causing severe damage.

A statement released by Gomati District Police said one person has been arrested in connection with the incident and seven persons have been detained for interrogation. The police said, “Adequate security arrangements had been put in place to defuse the tension”. The police also rejected the allegations of attacks on any political functionary and communal angle.