Probe into communal violence impartial: Tripura police

The police said they had unleashed appropriate action against anyone involved in violent activities and fake posts on social media platforms to fan communal trouble

Tripura police on Friday strongly refuted the charge that they were not conducting an impartial investigation into recent communal incidents in the State. In a statement, it said the probe was undertaken in a “complete impartial and lawful manner”.

“Some posts in social media projecting doubts on the impartiality of Tripura police in taking action against the perpetrators of recent communal incidents have been noticed,” the police statement said. It reiterated that the investigation into communal incidents is taking place “without bias and as per law”.

The police said they had unleashed appropriate action against anyone involved in violent activities and fake posts on social media platforms to fan communal trouble. So far, six people involved in various communal incidents have been arrested and several were served notice to join the investigation.

Those served notices include four Supreme Court lawyers representing some rights groups for allegedly posting content on social media that may flare communal tension. Police also suo moto registered a case against them under various Sections of the IPC and the harsh Unlawful Activities Prevention Act at the West Agartala police station.

The lawyers visited Tripura early this week for an on-the-spot inspection of affected localities and vandalised mosques. They had also addressed a press conference here to present a brief report on the incidents and had said they would publish the full fact-finding report in Delhi.

Tripura police and government officials have been repeatedly claiming that only a few mosques, some households and two private vehicles were damaged, while a couple of shops were burnt by rampaging miscreants from the rallies of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad that organised protests across the State against attacks on Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh during the Durga puja festival.

The officials vehemently denied large-scale riots, which are painted mainly on social media and also in the rhetoric of some political leaders and organisations.

Meanwhile, district administrations have completed handing monetary compensation to the people affected by the recent violence to comply with a directive of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Mosques are being repaired with the fund made available to the State Waqf Board.