Agartala: A strike organized by the opposition Congress Party paralysed normal life in Left-ruled Tripura on Monday. The strike call was given over a demand for a CBI probe into the murder of CPI-M Minister Bimal Sinha. Sinha, who was the state’s health minister, was killed by the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants while negotiating with them for the release of his brother.
Since last month, the Congress has been raising questions about how a report on the assassination of Sinha was leaked into the public domain. The retired Calcutta High Court Justice M.A. Yusuf Commission was appointed by the Left Front government in 1998 and it submitted its report on January 31, 2000. The state government had kept the findings of the report under lock and key till this year.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has now said that the alleged leakage of the Yusuf Commission report to a local newspaper should be probed. Sinha was murdered on March 31, 1998 in the Kamalpur subdivision of the state’s Dhalai district.
On Monday, most schools, markets, shops and business establishments in Agartala remained closed. Attendance in government and semi-government offices and banks was thin, while roads were deserted. Vehicles, except those of security forces, remained off the roads.
Tinku Datta, a passenger at the airport said, “So many people are travelling from Agartala to Imphal, Aijawl, Guwahati, Calcutta, they are suffering. They (police) will give us bus on any other vehicle.”
There were report of few stray incidents of picketers breaking windshield of vehicles from various parts but large number of police personnel’s were engaged in the roads and busy areas. Superintendent of Police Abhijit Saptarshi said there were no untoward incidents as strict preventive measures were in place.
