Tripura police to probe into terrorist-politician nexus

Agartala, Apr 11 (UNI) The Tripura Police today constituted a special investigation team with the senior officials of special branch to conduct inquiry into the alleged terrorist-politician nexus in the state.

Police said a Bangladesh-based Harkat-Ul-Jihad-Islami (HUJI) activist was arrested in Agartala last month by the West Bengal CID.

Director General of Police (DGP) K T D Singh told UNI that the team would investigate the matters related to the presence of one Mamun Mian, reportedly a Bangladeshi arms dealer suspected to have links with the HUJI, who had been nabbed from a rented house at Ramnagar area in Agartala by West Bengal CID officials.

The Opposition Congress accused the CPI(M) of backing anti-Indian forces and terrorists, including Pakistan-based ISI, Al Qaida and Bangladesh-based HUJI.

Mamun had allegedly been staying in the rented house, a stone's throw from the state Civil Secretariat, for the past six years, concealing his nationality.

It was also alleged that state Food Minister Shaid Choudhury had assisted the person in getting a safe haven in the city.

The Food Minister had allegedly recommended the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to issue a Permanent Resident Certificate to the arrested person and was still maintaining close relations with him.

The Congress alleged that anti-Indian and fundamentalist forces were very much active in Tripura and had been using a few pockets of the state bordering Bangladesh as safe corridor for terrorists as well as arms smugglers, adding that HUJI-B operatives often used Tripura as their route to reach mainland India and the arrest of four members of the HUJI last month and their confessional statements substantiated it.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) handed over an Indian militant leader to authorities in Tripura yesterday, as the first instance of Bangladesh deporting a militant sought by India to stand trial.

Police said senior BDR officials handed over National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militant Sujit Debbarma to Border Security Force (BSF) officials through the Khowai border point in west Tripura, adding that Sujit had joined NLFT in 2000 and went to Bangladesh for arms training after committing a number of crimes in Tripura.

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