Tripura: Cong blames BJP after MLA among others attacked

Agartala, Aug 11 At least 11 Congress members including party's lone MLA and senior leader Sudip Roy Barman were injured in police custody as they were allegedly "attacked by the ruling BJP's workers" in Tripura on Thursday.

Tripura Pradesh Congress President Birajit Sinha said that the "BJP goons" attacked the Congress leaders and workers while they were in police custody.

He said "seriously injured" Roy Barman and former Youth Congress President Sushanta Chakraborty are now under medical treatment in the medical college and hospital here.

Sinha said that the Congress leaders and workers had assembled at Ranir Bazar as part of their pre-scheduled nation-wide programme of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

"But the police denied permission to hold the event. After some arguments, the Congress leaders and workers launched a road blockade to protest the police's decision and the police arrested around 250 Congress leaders and workers and took them under detention to a police complex in Arundhuti Nagar. But on the way, groups of criminals and mafia elements owing allegiance to BJP started heavy stone pelting on the running vehicles injuring the Congress leaders and workers," the state Congress chief told the media.

He claimed that the police took no action to deal with the situation."This was done in a pre-planned manner and the police did nothing. The BJP miscreants now do not dare to come near to physically attack and resort to stone-pelting from afar," the Congress leader said.

Around 100 Congress workers on Thursday night surrounded the residence of Chief Minister Manik Saha in protest against the BJP attack, but the police dispersed the Congressmen.

Condemning the attack on the Congress leaders and workers, opposition CPI-M in a statement said that they too could not hold a pre-scheduled programme at Ramchandra Ghat in Khowai district on Thursday as the BJP workers in presence of the police prevented the Left party workers and leaders.

The Left party workers led by CPI-M's state secretary and party's central committee member Jitendra Choudhury tried to hold a rally as part of their country-wide programme of "Save Constitution and Save Democracy".

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