On June 26, an 11-year-old boy, Purna Biswas was found murdered in Mohanpur sub-division of Tripura. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker of the area, Ratan Lal Nath, who is also the state\u2019s law minister, visited the family and said that an \u201cinternational kidney smuggling racket\u201d might be behind the death.<\/p>\n
The following day, nine persons \u2013 all of them in separate incidents \u2013 were beaten up in various parts of the state on suspicion of being childlifters. On that day and the following day, a vendor, a musical instrument teacher, a vagabond and a mentally challenged woman were beaten to death and at least 20 people including railway officials were assaulted by mobs in different incidents in western and southern Tripura.<\/p>\n
Over 20 persons have been arrested in connection with these incidents, the post mortem report mentioned that no organ had been removed and the law minister Nath has even admitted to his \u201cmistake\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the tension refused to die down in Tripura. Former chief minister Manik Sarkar, who is leader of Opposition in the state and a politburo member of the CPI(M), has said: \u201cIrresponsible, baseless and foolish comments after killing of a minor boy in Mohanpur (in western Tripura) fuelled to such a situation, resulting in the lynching of a few people and injuring many in Tripura.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he hasn\u2019t named the ruling BJP or the ministers, he said that police and civil administration ought to be more vigilant and the rumour mongers should be booked.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the state\u2019s Congress president Birajit Sinha has lodged a complaint with Kailashahar police station in which he alleged there were efforts to malign him on social media. One Anupam Paul had written on Facebook that Sarkar and Sinha were responsible for \u201cplanned murders\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n
Not just about lynching and rumours<\/strong><\/p>\n The current situation may be tense over rumours, but the ruling BJP and the Opposition CPI(M) in Tripura have been on a collision course for the past few months, since the ruling CPM lost in the Assembly elections in March this year, that ended 25 years of uninterrupted Left rule in the state.<\/p>\n BJP along with ally Indigenous People\u2019s Front of Tripura won 43 seats while the CPM won 16 seats (the BJP\u2019s independent count was 35).<\/p>\n In March itself, a payloader was used to topple the statue of Vladimir Lenin in south Tripura\u2019s Belonia. BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty had gone on record<\/span><\/a> saying that \u201cpeople of the area wanted to erect statues of national heroes like Swami Vivekananda, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Mother Teresa instead of Lenin since long. Whatever happened in Belonia is the outcome of public fury.\u201d<\/p>\n On Sunday, Gautam Das, CPM\u2019s central committee member said that since the BJP came to power in the state, four party members \u2013 three of them senior leaders \u2013 had been killed in Tripura. Another 520 party members had been injured in various incidents, he said. \u201cBulldozers are being used to mow down 120 of our party offices,\u201d Das said. \u201cThere is no rule of law here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n