Smash militant camps in Bangladesh: Tripura CM

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">GUWAHATI: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Wednesday again called upon the Union Government to pressurise the "friendly government" of Bangladesh to crack down on the militants operating from their soil as is being done in case of militants operating from Myanmar and Bhutan.<br />Sarkar, in a telephonic interview to this correspondent, stated that Tuesday’s action by the militants can''t be taken as a case in isolation as these militants have nearly 40 to 50 known camps in Bangladesh where they move around freely.<br />He said what is surprising is that from the interrogation reports of apprehended or surrendered militants in the state it is very clear that a section of people of Bangladesh Rifles and Bangladesh Army are sympathising with them and very frequently visit the camps of militants from the region.<br />The chief minister was also highly critical of the way center government is shifting troops from this sensitive bordering state of Tripura without even consulting the state government. He said they have a massive border with Bangladesh, which is so porous that if adequate patrolling is not done the militants have a free entry, and exit to and from the state after committing crime and killings of innocent people in the state.<br />He said earlier they had 18 Battalions of Border Security Force to look after the border with Bangladesh but now they have been left with only nine battalions thus thinning out the patrolling further making it easier for the militants.<br />He said the three army battalions the state had earlier were also withdrawn by the government without any consultation or information to the state government as long as these army units were there in the state they had kept militancy under check in their areas to a great extent. <br />Sarkar said the Central government also has to take full responsibility of ongoing insurgency in the state in particular and region in general as these militants are fighting a secessionist war against the state which affects the entire country and not only Tripura.<br />He said the Union government is giving some money for raising India Reserve Battalions which is not sufficient to maintain them in the longer run and for states like Tripura which are starved of funds maintaining such a big force is a problem in the longer run.<br />He said whatever CRPF they have is also not sufficient as large chunk of it is also required for area dominating and other security measures which includes keeping of roads clear for maintaining normal road traffic on highways etc.<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Bandh complete and peaceful</span><br />The bandh called by various political parties in Tripura over the killing of 20 men of Tripura State Rifles by suspected militants belonging to NLFT has been peaceful and complete. Though the duration of bandh by the ruling Left Front is 12 hours, the bandh called by opposition parties is for 24 hours starting at six am Wednesday morning.<br />In yet another development security forces on Wednesday arrested one Sunil Deb Barma from the Agartala airport while he was trying to board the flight to Kolkata but senior police officials said though his arrest was in connection with the ongoing insurgency in the state.<br />The police has detained some people in connection with Tuesday''s ambush and they are being interrogated, but so far no official arrest has been made and combing operations are on. </div> </div>