Cops clash with sacked teachers in Tripura

So the gathering was illegal, AdditionalSuperintendent of Police Shasvat Kumar said.According to a member of the Joint Movement CommitteeJMC -- a forum created by the terminated teachers -- theTripura police dismantled the tent without any warning, whenthe agitators were still asleep.Many teachers were detained forcibly by the policeand taken to Tripura State Rifles TSR camps near here.

Tension prevailed in Agartalaon Wednesday, as scores of terminated school teachersdemonstrated outside Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb'sofficial residence here, prompting the police to use tear gasand water cannons to disperse them.

Over 10,000 government school teachers were sackedlast year, in accordance with a 2014 high court order, whichsaid that their recruitment process was a faulty one. TheSupreme Court later upheld the verdict.

Demanding a solution to the crisis, the teachers hadbeen staging a sit-in over the last 52 days at ParadiseChowmuhani in the state capital.

Trouble started in the morning after the policedismantled the makeshift tent, where they had been holding theprotest, and detained around 300 agitators.

Shortly after, the protesters set out on a march tothe CM's residence, notwithstanding the restrictions, even asthe police tried to stop them.

A scuffle ensued, following which the policelathicharged the agitators, burst tear gas shells and sprayedthem with water.

The demonstrators, in retaliation, ransacked vehiclesof police and district officials.

''We had information that the movement could turn intoa violent protest and there were chances of breach of peace.

The district magistrate had announced that prohibitory ordersunder section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed around theCM's residence. So the gathering was illegal,'' AdditionalSuperintendent of Police Shasvat Kumar said.

According to a member of the Joint Movement Committee(JMC) -- a forum created by the terminated teachers -- theTripura police dismantled the tent without any warning, whenthe agitators were still asleep.

Many teachers were detained forcibly by the policeand taken to Tripura State Rifles (TSR) camps near here. Weare not criminals. Why did the government use force?'' KamalDeb, a leader of the forum, said here, adding that severalprotesters sustained injuries in the melee.

Inspector General (law and order) Arindam Nath toldreporters that police applied force ''judiciously and with ahuman face''.

Under no circumstances, we could have allowed theprotest near the CM's residence, he added.