AGARTALA: The death toll in the firing incident in Panisagar area of Tripura rose to two on Sunday with a fire service employee succumbing to his injuries, a police officer said.
43-year-old Srikanta Das, a carpenter who was among the protestors, was killed and at least 23 others were injured when police opened fire at picketers, who had blocked the Assam-Agartala National Highway at Panisagar in North Tripura district on Saturday, police said.
The demonstrators were protesting against a government plan to rehabilitate over 6,000 Brus in Kanchanpur sub- division.
Biswajit Debbarma, a fire service personnel, who was injured by the protesters and admitted at GBP Hospital with polytrauma and head injuries died early Sunday, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of New Capital Complex, Piya Madhuri Majumder said.
Locally known as "Assam-Agartala Road", the NH-8 is often called the lifeline of Tripura as it connects the state with the rest of the country.
The Joint Movement Committee (JMC), comprising Bengalis and local Mizos, had called an indefinite bandh in Kanchanpur and had blocked the highway on Saturday.
Trouble started, when a contingent of police and paramilitary, including Tripura State Rifles (TSR), was involved in a scuffle with JMC activists following an altercation over withdrawal of the road blockade.
JMC convenor Sushanta Baruah alleged that police personnel had opened fire on the protestors "who were demonstrating peacefully" while ADG Rajiv Singh said the police was compelled to fire in self defence since the crowd had turned unruly and tried to snatch weapons from the security personnel.
Meanwhile, JMC chairman Zairemthiama Pachuau said, the indefinite strike, which entered its seventh day on Sunday, is continuing at Kanchanpur.
"The situation is calm, but tense. We are waiting to discuss the situation with a government delegation, comprising a minister and some MLAs, which is likely to be held here at 4 pm."
"State minister for Social Welfare Shantana Chakma informed us that the delegation is on way from Agartala, about 200 km from here", Pachuau told PTI over phone.
The state government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the police firing and has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased.
State Law minister Ratan Lal Nath, who is also the cabinet spokesperson, said that the probe would be conducted by district magistrate of North Tripura, Nagesh Kumar, and he would submit the report "within one month".
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb chaired a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Devbarma in presence of Director General of Police V S Yadav and Additional Director General of Police Rajiv Singh and took stock of the situation on Saturday night, Nath told reporters here.
The Bru issue had started in September 1997 following demands of a separate autonomous district council by carving out areas of western Mizoram adjoining Bangladesh and Tripura.
About 30,000 Bru tribals had then fled Mizoram due to the ethnic tension there and took shelter in refugee camps in Tripura.
The first attempt to repatriate the Brus was made in November 2009 by the Centre along with the governments of Tripura and Mizoram.
However, the effort had met with little success.
A quadripartite accord was signed among the Union Home Ministry, state governments of Mizoram and Tripura and leaders of Bru refugees in January this year to permanently settle Bru evacuees in Tripura.
The Centre sanctioned Rs 600 crore as rehabilitation package for the displaced Brus as a final solution to the 23-year-old imbroglio.
The JMC chairman had told newsmen recently that the North Tripura district magistrate had assured that 1,500 families would be settled in the area.
Meanwhile, various tribal organisations in Agartala, including the ruling BJP's ally, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), alleged that the government failed to handle the situation properly, leading to the death of two persons and injury to 32 others on Saturday.
A police-public clash took place on Saturday, during which the security personnel had resorted to firing to remove the blockade of a national highway over the resettlement issue of Bru refugees. A magisterial probe has been initiated into the incident.
On Sunday, a Joint Action Committee of civil society and heads of various tribal communities condemned the incident during a press conference and demanded that the state government investigate the entire incident.
Mongal Debbarma, the spokesperson of the IPFT, said that it was the duty of the government to handle the situation without any delay. "We are demanding an ex gratia of Rs 20 lakh for the next of kin of each dead person from the government. The culprits must be arrested immediately, otherwise, the IPFT will go for a strong movement," he said, adding the party, however, strongly condemns the agitation by the Nagoric Suraksha Mancha and Jampui Mizo Convention.
Pratik Dev Barma, leader of the BJP's tribal wing Bharatiya Janajati Morcha, also condemned the incident, alleging that the agitation is being organised to sabotage the central and state government's decision to settle the displaced Bru people from Mizoram in Tripura.
Dilip Debbarma, president of Kshatriya Samaj, said that the manner in which a firefighter was beaten to death and his bike put on fire by the agitators shows that the protest was not a peaceful one.
"Everyone has a right to protest peacefully and democratically but who has given them the right to take someone's life and why the state government is silent over it. Why the government is not taking any step against those who are continuing the indefinite strike and taking part in the protest, going against the Disaster Management Act during this pandemic," he added.
He feared that this agitation may "spread across the state and take a communal turn if the state government does not handle the situation immediately with a strong hand to restore normalcy".
Sunil Debbarma, member of the Joint Action Committee and Tribal Students Federation president, alleged that the Nagoric Suraksha Mancha and Jampui Mizo Convention are responsible for Saturday's deaths and legal action should be taken against the leaders of both the organisations.
Terming the movement to be communal, he demanded that immediate steps should be taken for rehabilitation of the displaced Bru people. "Due to the continuous agitation at Kanchanpur, the government rationing system has totally collapsed and it should be restored," he added.
"But now the government is trying to settle 6,000 families," he said.
(With ANI Inputs)