Tripura Timeline - Year 2012

January 4

SFs arrested four tribal youths, carrying arms and suspected to be involved in insurgent activity, from remote Balucherra area under Ganga Nagar Police Station of Dhalai District.

SFs arrested three militants belonging to NLFT from Gobindabari, in Dhalai District.

CorCom of seven militant outfits of Manipur have joined hands with five other Militant groups of the Northeastern and called for a mass boycott of Republic Day celebrations on January 26 in the entire northeast. Five other outfits include the ULFA-ATF, HNLC, KLO, NLFT and ATTF.

Security measures were beefed up due to the incoming Republic Day (January 26).

NLFT and ATTF are shifting their bases in Bangladesh closer to the Myanmar border. Further, the HNLC and GNLA, of Meghalaya are shifting their bases in Bangladesh towards the Tripura border.

Movement of NLFT militants from the interior areas of Gandacherra, Longtarai valley, Kanchanpur and Amarpur Sub-Divisions have been observed recently.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on February 18 will visit Tripura's refugee camps, where over 36,000 Bru tribal refuges from Mizoram have been staying for the past 15 years, and seek to persuade them to return home.

Bangladesh RAB arrested 'self-styled vice-president', identified as Subir Debbarma of NLFT from Khagrachhari District.

'Vice-president' of NLFT, Subir Debbarma was taken to Dhaka for interrogation.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram met the leaders of the displaced Reangs presently sheltered in six camps in North Tripura District. Chidambaram said that Central Government had taken all efforts to ensure their safety and rehabilitation when they would go back to Mizoram. Already a package had been given to the DONER to ensure the rehabilitation package that would address almost all aspects including security, shelter, food, health, education, electricity etc.

The visit of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram along with Shambhu Singh, joint secretary, in-charge, Northeast in the home ministry, to the refugee camps of Kanchanpur in north Tripura on February 18 has kindled hope among the 30,000 inmates of seven relief camps. Bruno Msha, general secretary of MBDPF, described the visit not only historic but the first ever by any central minister ever since their camping here in 1997.

State Chief Minister Manik Sarkar put the onus of taking back the 37,000 Bru (Reang) tribal refugees on the Mizoram Government, and called on the neighboring state and the Central Government to do more to resolve the issue. Sarkar further said that the Central Government still owes the State INR 310 million for its expenses on relief for the tribal refugees.

February 28

Following Central Government's approval on February 17 for extending financial package to 83 Mizo families who were displaced from the State in 1997-98, the MBDPF has demanded compensation for 116 Bru families stationed outside the refugee relief camps in Kanchanpur Sub-Division.

Bangladesh has rejected India's proposal of border fencing at the zero line along the border, Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar told the State assembly.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar [also holds Home Portfolio] said, "During the past 14 years, 1,705 extremists of different outfits have surrendered to the government. Of the 1,705 surrendered militants, 1,285 have been given economic rehabilitation and embarked on a new life with their families".

Police arrested 12 Myanmarese Citizen at Mungiakami in West Tripura District.The arrested foreign national are Rohingya Muslims and were on their way to Silchar in Assam.

Security Forces shot dead a militant, identified as Jongthang, and recovered two country made firearms in at Asharampara in North Tripura District during a 15 minutes encounter. One ASI, identified as Babul Mahajan was also injured in the encounter.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lathanhawla said that his Government has made all arrangements for the Bru refugees to return from the relief and rehabilitation camps in Tripura to Mizoram.

SFs arrested two people, Sarwar Hussain (39) and Ghulam Ajghar (25), both residents of Bihar's Kishanganj District, with FICN while depositing them in a bank in Agartala.

One militant belonging to BNF, identified as Hari Mohan Reang (32), surrendered before SDPO, Kanchanpur at Nandiram Para in North Tripura District.

State Government has extended AFSPA for another six months.

Mizoram has agreed to resume the stalled repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura as the Centre has nodded to rehabilitation of displaced Mizo families in Tripura, State Home Minister R Lalzirliana said. Official sources said the Bru repatriation will resume from April.

Union MoS for Home, Jitendra Singh said that 246 militancy-related incidents occurred in the State in the first three months of 2012. He further said that in the first three months of 2012, 21 militants, 5 security personnel and 7 civilians were killed in the State. Singh stated that number violent incidents by militants have declined in Nagaland. Giving details of the figure, Singh said, the number of incidents declined from 129 in 2009 to 64 in 2010, 61 in 2011 and 37 so far in 2012.Jitendra Singh further said that violence by militants is on the rise in Meghalaya. He said that in the year 2009, there were 12 such incidents, 29 in 2010 and 56 in 2011. In the first three months of 2012, 35 such incidents occurred. About Tripura, Singh said that only one violent incident was reported in the State this year. He gave a comparative figure for the last three year and said, in the year 2009, there were 19 incidents of militant violence in Tripura, 30 in 2010 and 13 in 2011.

Leaders of 172 organizations including various NGOs, churches and religious organizations in a joint meeting held at Naisingpara camp in Kanchanpur, North Tripura District, under the leadership of A Sawibunga, President of MBDPF resolved to demand a compensation amount of INR 150,000 for each the Bru returnee, which is equivalent to the compensation amount paid to each of the 83 displaced Mizo families.

For last two weeks a group of NLFT militants led by Malindra Tripura (Murai) and Baisjoy Aslong are camping at a crop field in the remote Bhagirath para in Dhalai District.

SFs arrested five militants belonging to BNLF, a Mizoram based militant formation, at Baigunchherra in North Tripura District. The militants were identified as Pradip Piter (28), Juam Jhara Bru (28), Psamani Bru (28), Routijoy Reang (26) and Karanjoy Reang (22). SFs recovered two locally made guns, one pistol and two revolvers from them.

Bangladesh has agreed to allow erection of barbed wire fencing on Zero-Line of Indo-Bangladesh international border in some patches of Tripura. "Following India's request, Bangladesh government has agreed to allow construction of fencing on Zero-Line in some parts of the state," State Home Secretary Manoj Kumar said.

State Government has asked all eight District SPs to strengthen Security in all sensitive locations following intelligence inputs on regrouping of NLFT-BM militants. The report indicated that a huge cache of arms has reached NLFT-BM through NSCN.

Both fencing and flood lighting projects along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura have been affected severely due to the delay caused by adverse weather condition and non-availability of support service from concerned departments.

Security agencies believe tha the CPI-Maoist is making inroads into the North-East to gain access to the arms market in the neighbouring Yunan province of China and not with the aim of expanding their base.

A MHA document says Maoists are working in close association with the PLA of Manipur, which also has a base in Myanmar. "The Maoists have been found carrying Chinese-made arms, but we do not know yet whether they procured the weapons directly from China or were supplied arms by north-eastern militant outfits," the source said.

Repatriation of Bru refugees residing in Tripura to Mizoram has been held up, with the Bru refugees refusing to go back to their parent State. As per the decision of the UMHA and the Mizoram Government, 141 Bru refugees were scheduled to be repatriated to three selected villages in western Mizoram.

Bru refugees were unwilling to return to their villages without a written agreement guaranteeing security, livelihood and other facilities from the Centre and the Mizoram Government.

Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, referring to the issue of militants operating in the northeastern States of India getting help from China, told the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) that the Chinese Government has conveyed that it would never support armed groups that are against the Government of India.

The repatriation of Bru tribal refugees from Kanchanpur sub division in Tripura to Mizoram began but there is uncertainty over whether all the migrants will return home, officials here said. The report quotes officials saying that of the scheduled 600 refugees; only 37 went to their villages in Mizoram.