Tripura Agartala/UNI: Police arrested four persons, including a collaborator of banned outfit NLFT with Rs 15 lakh, from Raishyabari market last evening during an alleged deal of extortion between the outfit and contractors of a government project.
Police claimed the contractors of National Projects Construction Corporation Limited, who are engaged in barbed wire fencing work along Tripura – Bangladesh border in Gandacherra of Dhalai district, were going to hand over the extortion money to NLFT collaborator.
The arrested contractors were identified as Amit Bhowmik of Agartala, Arjun Debnath of Udaipur and Suman Majumdar of Khowai.
Reports said NLFT has been collecting money from the construction agencies engaged in wire fencing. Three NPCC workers were kidnapped by NLFT from the border following a temporary disruption of payment. They were released only after paying ransom of Rs 12 lakh.
Police said based on specific inputs, a team of TSR jawans carried out raid at Raishyabari market and intercepted three persons moving on a Bolero and seized Rs 15 lakh from their possession.
During interrogation, the detainees confessed that they were waiting to hand over the money to a an NLFT collaborator.
Later, following their inputs, police conducted another raid and picked up Sona Mohan Tripura of Nitya Kumar Para of Raishyabari, who admitted his association with NLFT as an over ground collaborator of the outfit.
He further revealed that a group of NLFT militants led by Bikram Bahadur Jamatia is camping in Bangladesh at Sambhumanipara of Khagrachari district.
The contractors told police that they had been receiving threat messages and calls from the NLFT militants, demanding money and threatening them with dire consequences.
“Since three of our workers were kidnapped only a month ago from the site for non-payment of extortion, we could not take risk, as we have to finish the fencing work across a few kilometer stretch of difficult terrain before monsoon starts,” they said.
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