Blasts cast shadow over Durga Puja in Tripura

Agartala, Oct 3: Serial blasts have cast a shadow over the spirit of Durga Puja, commencing from October 6 here, despite several security and administrative measures to restore normalcy.

The authority had covered the entire city with security blanket, along with deploying plain dress-clad police and paramilitary forces, to avert any untoward incident.

However, shops remained closed and the city appeared calm in the evening.

Besides, a section of Puja organisers had taken initiatives to instil confidence in the minds of the people publicising that the explosions before the festivital had made them alert.

''Agartala has never seen such terrorism as ultras usually target security forces. Their activities mostly take place outside the capital. This is the worst form of attack, so far. That too, on the innocent people,'' Shibu Saha, a shopkeeper, rued.

He added that business activity would be hit hard by the incident.

Police said around 1,250 Durga Puja pandals, out of a total number of 2,000 in the state, would come up up in Agartala, adding security had been tightened in the wake of serial blasts.

Meanwhile, the Tripura police had announced a cash reward of Rs one lakh with regard to the cases linked with the explosion of bombs at Agartala on October 1, injuring a large number of people.

UNI