'Militant hideouts in Bangladesh reduced'

Agartala, Aug 16: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar has appreciated the measures taken against Northeast-based militants by the caretaker government in Bangladesh.

Addressing a rally here to mark the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence, Mr Sarkar, referring to intelligence inputs, said the militant hideouts in Bangladesh had reduced during the regime of the presence government there.

According to official reports, more than 50 hideouts were operating in different locations in Bangladesh till recently.

However, they were now reduced to 32 after the caretaker government assumed power about four months ago, Mr Sarkar said.

He alleged that NE militants had received political support in Bangladesh during the earlier governments which had been confirmed by the union home ministry in New Delhi.

Mr Sarkar, however, stated that Tripura militants were facing severe manpower and resource crunch following aggressive attitude of the security forces in the state.

Statistical records stated that more than 100 hardcore activists of both the ATTF and NLFT were forced to surrender in the past few months, Mr Sarkar said.

''They might have supply of arms but there is no manpower to operate these weapons. As a result, we can notice a substantial reduction of militant activities in the state now-a-days,'' the chief minister said adding that there was no option left for them except to surrender.

UNI