With surrender of militants, insurgency fully extinct in Tripura: CM (Ld)

Agartala, Sep 24 (IANS) After the surrender of 584 extremists of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) outfits on Tuesday, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha declared that from today onwards the decade-old insurgency in the state came to an end.

Welcoming the surrendered militants, the Chief Minister said that through violence and terrorism no development is possible and for the growth of the country and welfare of people, peace is vital and without which no community can develop.

Declaring that from today Tripura becomes a fully insurgency-free state, CM Saha said the Centre and the state government by giving priority for the all-round development and welfare of the tribals have undertaken various schemes and projects.

"Those youths who were outlawed before Tuesday's surrender and led a troubling life for several years, I welcome them in the mainstream of life," said CM Saha, who also holds the Home Department portfolio.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for restoring peace and undertaking massive development in the northeastern region, the Chief Minister said that during the past few years 12 peace agreements were signed through discussions with various organisations in the northeast region and three of them are from Tripura.

NLFT President Biswamohan Debbarma said that they are happy after returning to the mainstream.

Thanking Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Shah, Tripura Chief Minister, Home Ministry's Advisor A K Mishra, officials of Ministry of Home Affairs, Tripura government and other government agencies for facilitating their surrender to the government, Debbarma added that they have a lot of tasks to fulfill in future.

"After seven months of hectic discussions we have decided to surrender to the government. More of our cadres would come to the mainstream in the coming months," the NLFT supremo said.

Another NLFT leader Prasenjit Debbarma said that some cadres of their outfit were still in Bangladesh and due to turmoil in the neighbouring country there was a communication gap with them.

The remaining NLFT members would soon join the mainstream, Prasenjit Debbarma told the media.

Though 584 militants of different factions of NLFT and ATTF outfits on Tuesday surrendered before the Chief Minister at a surrender ceremony at the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) seventh battalion headquarters at Jampuijala in Sepahijala district, few hundred more cadres of the two outfits would join the mainstream soon, a senior Home Department official said.

The militants of both the outfits have deposited 168 arms, including many sophisticated weapons and a large cache of different types of ammunition.

Three weeks after the signing of the peace agreement with the Centre and Tripura government in Delhi on September 4 in the presence of Union Home Minister Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Saha, other political leaders and officials of the MHA and Tripura government, the 584 militants of the NLFT and the ATTF outfits surrendered on Tuesday.

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