Tripura CM announces relief package for state's violence-hit Ganda Twisa area

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday visited violence-hit Ganda Twisa area in the state's Dhalai district and announced an additional Rs 241.46 crore for relief and re-development projects for the places that were devastated by widespread ethnic violence last month.

Saha announced an additional Rs 2.30 lakh for the relief of 145 affected families and Rs 6 lakh for the kin of tribal college student, Parameshwar Reang, who succumbed to his injuries on July 12 after being assaulted on July 7.

The state government earlier sanctioned Rs 1.14 crore for the relief of the affected families and Rs 4 lakh for the families of Reang.

After visiting the affected areas and interacting with the violence-hit people, the Chief Minister also announced Rs 239.10 crore for 17 development projects in the mountainous areas and setting up additional security camps for mixed populated areas.

He said that the government wanted peace and ethnic harmony to maintain uninterrupted development.

"Severe action would be taken against the perpetrators of the violence and rumour mongers. The state government has always been giving priority for the development of interior and tribal areas. But for undertaking the development, peace and ethnic tranquility is the foremost condition," CM Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, told the media.

Accompanied by Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha, Home Secretary Pradip Chakraborty, Director General of Police Amitabh Ranjan, District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Dhalai district and more than a dozen senior officials, Saha went to Ganda Twisa after the ethnic violence in the sensitive areas rocked the state for more than three weeks.

After the death of tribal student Parameshwar Reang, a mob burnt down and damaged over 40 houses, 30 shops, and a large number of vehicles in the mixed-populated Ganda Twisa area (in Dhalai district), located 130 km from Agartala.

The attackers did not even spare cattle and various small animals

Over 400 men, women and children belonging to 145 families are still sheltered in a special camp since the ethnic violence broke out.

A CPI-M team led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Tripura Assembly Jitendra Chaudhury and Congress delegation led by state Congress President Asish Kumar Saha last week separately visited the Ganda Twisa area.

The CPI-M demanded impartial investigation into the violence by constituting a Special Investigating Team while the Congress sought judicial probe.

The Tripura Human Rights Commission also expressed shock and dismay over the ethnic violence in Ganda Twisa and served notice to the Director General of Police and the District Magistrate of Dhalai district, officials said.

The three-member rights panel, headed by Swapan Chandra Das, retired Tripura High Court judge, said that inaction or negligence on the part of public servants in preventing the commission of a violation of human rights is also actionable and, therefore, the notices are issued to submit the preliminary report within three weeks for further course of action.