The Tripura police made a second arrest on Saturday in connection with the fatal attack on a senior Border Security Force officer who later succumbed to his injuries. They had earlier arrested the driver of the vehicle that knocked down Deepak Kumar Mandal, Deputy Commandant of the 145th battalion, in the early hours of Monday at Balerdepha in the smuggling-prone Sonamura subdivision of Sepahijala district.
“We earlier arrested Mamun Mia, the driver of the vehicle. We have arrested another accused person, Russel Mia, in connection with the attack,” said a police officer.
Murder charge
The police have now added murder charge (Section 302 of the IPC) in the FIR that was registered by the BSF on the day of the incident. Around 20 unknown attackers were mentioned in the case.
Mandal, who was the officiating Commandant of the 145th battalion, was accompanied only by a personal security guard when he went to Balerdepha on the Bangladesh border to challenge smugglers who had gathered on both sides to smuggle cattle into the neighbouring country under the cover of darkness.
The vehicle hit Mandal from behind and he collapsed on the road. His guard opened fire from his automatic weapon, forcing the smugglers to flee. Mandal was airlifted to Kolkata after his condition deteriorated but succumbed to severe head injuries.
