Hill Voice, 17 January 2021, Rangamati: It has been alleged that 13 Tripura villagers of Burma Para and Butam Para of Ward No. 1 of Ghilachhari Union of Kaptai Mouza of Rajasthali Upazila of Rangamati hill district have been beaten and detained in the camp by the army.
The detainees are Ravidhan Tripura (48), son of Mizaram Tripura; Dunendra Tripura (40), son of Punaram Tripura; Birabadu Tripura (28), son of Fudula Tripura; Lakshan Tripura (28), son Satyaram Tripura; Rambadu Tripura (48), father Vishnujaya Tripura; Aviram Tripura (32), of Nakul Tripura; Ranabir Tripura (27), son of Thanchurla Tripura from Butam Para, and Chailagya Tripura Karbari (63), Baliram Tripura (46), Therman Tripura (37), Chaipruha Tripura (43) and Jogyamia Tripura from Barmapara. Another person’s name was not known.
According to local sources, a group of troops from Farua sub-zone raided Butam Para on the border of Rajasthali and Bilaichari upazials and its adjoining Burma Para around 3:00 pm on January 15, 2020.
At that time, the army personnel conducted a massive search of the houses of every Jumma villager in the two villages and started mass beating. Fearing the torture, the old and young people of the area became frightened and fled. Angry army members were beating by saying “Where is the gun? Where’s the gun?” They keep asking them to hand over the guns.
Thirteen country-made guns licensed from the Rajasthani police station and Boli Para army camp were seized from the two villages. Along with him, 13 innocent Jummas were arrested and taken to the camp.
It is to be mentioned that while Rambadu Tripura was beating, his daughter with disable Kishori Ganarong Tripura (19) tried to stop the army member. The enraged army officer who was beating her father tried to molest and rape the her. At that moment, the rest of the army stopped him.
Elders and rights activists of Butam Para and Burma Para told Hill Voice that the guns snatched from the innocent Jumma villagers were licensed from Rajasthali police station and Boli Para camp. As the village is on the border side, the villagers use the gun in stages to protect themselves from robbers and terrorists. For this, the villagers used to give accountability and information on the use of guns in the army camps and Rajasthali police station every month or every two months.
According to a special investigation by Hill Voice, the army show recovery of weapons from hilly areas mainly to gain its promotions and to appease higher authorities. These sorted weapons are used in two ways. One: These guns are used in the arms rescue drama to show the ability of new posted officers to the higher authorities to perform their duties after taking charge and to get promotion while the officers transfer from the area again.
