NLFT ultras release border fencing workers abducted near Bangladesh border

Agartala: Three construction workers who were kidnapped by insurgents of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) from a village near the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura have been released 16 days after the kidnapping, Tripura police officials said on Thursday.

The workers engaged by National Project Construction Corporation Ltd (NPCC) for the erection of border fencing at Maldapara village in Dalai district, under the jurisdiction of Ganganagar police station, about 140 km from Agartala, were kidnapped on December 7 by insurgents, police said.

Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Tripura Police Subrata Chakraborty confirmed that they were released yesterday evening, after continued pressure from the security forces near the border.

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A group of six NLFT insurgents, armed with automatic weapons, had raided the construction site bordering Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of the neighbouring country and taken away the three workers to Bangladesh, the police officer said.

Immediately after receiving the news of the kidnapping, Superintendent of Police Kishore Debbarma had rushed to the spot with a huge contingent of police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and launched a search operation in the area.

The AIG said that the NLFT ultras were forced to release the abducted persons due to "continuous operations by the security forces, which also mounted pressure on overground collaborators of the insurgent outfit."

Additionally, the Bangladeshi security forces had also launched extensive operations in their country at the behest of Indian forces, the AIG said. The kidnapped persons were identified as Subhash Bhowmik, Subal Debnath and Ganapati Tripura.

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