Two leaders of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) were arrested from West Tripura district when they entered India from neighbouring Bangladesh, police said on Friday.
Sachin Debbarma, the former chief of army staff of the proscribed outfit, and its political secretary Utpal Debbarma, who have been accused of being involved in killings, abductions, extortions and waging war against the country, were apprehended on Thursday night from Simna area near the international border, a senior officer said.
“We had specific inputs that Sachin and Utpal will enter the state’s territory from Bangladesh on Thursday night. We laid traps and apprehended them when they crossed over the border from Bangladesh,” Special Branch DIG Krishnendu Chakraborty told PTI.
After the interrogation at SB headquarters, both were handed over to West Tripura police to take legal action as several cases are pending against them, he said. “They will be produced before the court on Friday,” Chakraborty said.
Sachin, a resident of Sidhai of West Tripura district, had been involved in killings and attacks on security personnel, he said. “He was also sent to jail in Bangladesh. Sachin now does not hold any important post in the NLFT though he is still a key man of the outlawed group. Utpal was considered a think-tank of the organisation,” Chakraborty added.