Uneasy lull in Raiabari after bloody clash between tribals and minorities over land rights

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, September 12, 2022

An uneasy lull amidst mounting tension has been reported from Raiabari area under Killa police station in Udaipur subdivision following a bloody clash between local tribals and minorities yesterday. Altogether eighteen people including four police personnel sustained injuries in yesterday’s bloody clash after a group of tribals had tried to occupy a disputed forest land . Police sources from Udaipur said that the plot of forest land had been in dispute for a long time as the local tribals had been claiming the land inhabited by local Muslims for a long time for allotment under the Right to Forest Act-2006. The then DM (Gomati) R.K.Debnath had assured the local minorities that they would be given the right to the land to the resentment of the tribal community.

Yesterday a large group of tribals armed with primitive weapons swooped on the land , seeking to drive out the minority families who also put up a stiff resistance . In the resultant clash ten minorities and eight tribals sustained injuries . In order to quell the tension and clash a police force arrived on the spot and came under attack in consequence of which four police personnel sustained injuries . A police vehicle of the Killa police station was also set afire by the irate mob . However with strong intervention the police brought the situation under control.

Later on tribal welfare minister Rampada Jamatya visited the Udaipur hospital and told media persons that a vested interest group had caused the trouble to divide people and garner votes. The Gomati district president of Congress Saumit Deb also met the patients in Udaipur hospital and said that the then DM T.K.Debnath was responsible for the entire fracas. Some patients with serious injuries are admitted to GBP hospital . A large force of police and TSR have been posted in Raiabari area.