AGARTALA: A group of 14 Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) workers staged a nude demonstration in Tripura West district today in support of their demand for a separate state of Twipraland even as the indefinite blockade of the national highway and railway tracks called by the outfit entered its third day.
The 14 protesters stood naked in front of the Champaknagar bridge, the gateway to the Barumira hill range, to draw the attention of the authorities to their Twipraland demand.
Tripura West District Magistrate (DM) Milind Ramteke and Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhijeet Saptarshi rushed to the spot to disperse them.
Ramteke later said a group of 14 IPFT supporters staged a nude demonstration at Champaknagar Gate at around 8 am, adding that it was withdrawn after a while.
"I called their leaders to the spot and told them that this nude show was highly objectionable. After a brief meeting, the IPFT leaders took the protesters away," he added.
"The national highway and railway tracks are still blocked but the situation is under control," the SP, who is camping at Khamtingbari in Tripura West, the venue of the agitations, said.
The IPFT is demanding a separate state of Twipraland for those living in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas, which account for two-thirds of the north-eastern state's territory and is home to the tribals, who form one-third of the state's population.
Meanwhile, the IPFT has sought Governor Tathagata Roy's intervention to find a long-lasting solution to the problems of the indigenous people of the state.
IPFT general secretary Mevar Kumar Jamataia, accompanied by Buddu Debbarma, called on Roy at the Raj Bhavan last night and submitted a two-page memorandum to him.
In the memorandum, the outfit demanded that a separate state of Twipraland to be carved out of Tripura for the tribals of the state.