Agartala: Tipra Motha Party (TMP) founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman has come up with controversy after alleging that land in a protected tribal area of Tripura was allotted to a Bangladeshi national.
The claim, shared via social media, triggered/ raised public outrage and renewed debates on illegal immigration and land rights in the state.Debbarman posted documents showing the settlement of 0.22 acres of land in Khupilang Mouza, Udaipur subdivision, to one Dilu Mia, reportedly a resident of Bangladesh and a non-Scheduled Tribe individual.
He questioned the legality of such allotments under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).“This would have triggered national outrage if it had happened in mainland India,” Debbarman said, warning that such documentation could be misused to obtain Indian identity papers. He also raised concerns over the role of local revenue officers and called for Election Commission intervention. However, Udaipur SDM Tridip Sarkar clarified that the plot in question is officially designated as enemy property land abandoned by nationals of Pakistan or Bangladesh during historical migrations, managed under the Enemy Property Act, 1968.
Sarkar said that hearings are underway to transfer custody of such properties to the central government.Tripura reportedly has 250 enemy properties in the Udaipur subdivision alone, with legal procedures ongoing. Officials advised caution in making public statements about such matters without full verification. The controversy comes amid growing tensions over illegal immigration, with TMP pressing for stronger border controls.
Recently, Pradyot said he would urge the Election Commission to conduct a Bihar-like special revision of the voter list in Tripura.Meanwhile, the state government has begun forming a Special Task Force (STF) led by an SP rank officer to monitor and act against illegal immigrants. A 15 member STF is already functional in West Tripura, collecting biometric data and feeding it into the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Foreigners Identification Portal. Similar task forces are being set up across all districts.
Although, TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma threatened to withdraw support from the government over these issues, Pradyot dismissed it as frustration over delays in the Tiprasa Accord implementation.