Reang refugees barge into Tripura quarantine centre, take away 40 refugee inmates

A CORRESPONDENT

AGARTALA: In a bizarre incident, a group of Reang refugees from Nisingpara camp snatched away 40 people from a coronavirus quarantine center at Kanchanpur sub-division in North Tripura District. They were put in the center for 14 days observation after they were held while entering Tripura from Mizoram on Thursday violating the lockdown restrictions.

This is the first incident in the entire country when the inmates of a quarantine center were snatched away. The sudden incident seems to have baffled the sub-divisional administration who is yet to take any action.

Over 100 youths from the camp trooped into the temporary quarantine center at Sarbajoy Reang Memorial Community Hall, broke open the lock in the gate and snatched away all the persons kept there. None from the administration dared to prevent them while the Health workers posted in the centre fled away out of fear.

From the beginning, the Reang refugees were resenting the administration’s move to take them into the quarantine center. The government first tried to put them in a hostel at Kanchanpur; but was forced to take them to the Sarbajoy Reang Memorial Community Hall located near the Naisinghpara camp. No symptom of coronavirus was found in any of them but they were sent to the center for 14-day observation.

Health department officials are worried over the incident as it may have serious consequences what with the Reang refugee camps being thickly populated; and any outbreak of the disease may have a devastating effect.

Sources informed that the leaders of Reang refugees had claimed that the intruders are in-home quarantine inside the camp which is totally impossible in view of the environment of the refugee camp.

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