Kidnapped construction workers in Tripura released by ultras

The workers engaged by National Project Construction Corporation Ltd NPCC for erection of border fencing at Maldapara village in Dalai district, under the jurisdiction of Ganganagar police station, about 140 km from here, were kidnapped on December 7, police said.They were released on Wednesday evening, Assistant Inspector General AIG of Tripura Police Subrata Chakraborty said.

Three construction workers who were kidnapped by insurgents of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) from a village near the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura have been released, police said on Thursday. The workers engaged by National Project Construction Corporation Ltd (NPCC) for erection of border fencing at Maldapara village in Dalai district, under the jurisdiction of Ganganagar police station, about 140 km from here, were kidnapped on December 7, police said.

They were released on Wednesday evening, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Tripura Police Subrata Chakraborty said. A group of six insurgents, armed with automatic weapons, had raided the construction site bordering Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of the neighbouring country and taken away the three workers to Bangladesh, the police officer said.

Immediately after receiving the news of the kidnapping, Superintendent of Police Kishore Debbarma had rushed to the spot with a huge contingent of police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and launched a search operation in the area. The AIG said, the ultras were forced to release the abducted persons due to continuous operations by the security forces, which also mounted pressure on overground collaborators of the insurgent outfit.

Bangladeshi security forces had also launched extensive operations in their country, the AIG said. The kidnapped persons were identified as Subhash Bhowmik, Subal Debnath and Ganapati Tripura.