Two Bangladesh-trained militants surrender in Tripura

AGARTALA, Aug 5: Two Bangladesh-trained extremists surrendered to Tripura Police with Chinese-made arms and ammunition, police said here on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Uttam Kumar Bhowmik said the two top tiol Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants — Sunil Mohan Tripura, 35, and Jatanjoy Tripura, 36, — recently fled from their Bangladeshi hideout and crossed over to Tripura.

The guerrillas surrendered their Chinese-made arms and ammunition to Tripura Police’s Director General K garaj on Tuesday night.

Members of NLFT and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) have taken shelter and arms training in different hideouts and covert camps in various parts of Bangladesh, which shares an 856-km border with Tripura.

Both outfits, banned in 1997 by the union home ministry, advocate secession of Tripura from India. But as most ATTF cadres have surrendered, the group is almost non-existent now.

Officials of Tripura and union home ministry held two rounds of talks recently with the NLFT after the rebel group expressed its willingness to hold peace talks with the government. (IANS)