Tripura CM warns terrorists after abduction of workers: 'We know to do surgical strikes'

Issuing a stern warning to the insurgents, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, on Saturday, said that the government will deal with them with a firm hand, adding that they are well aware of how 'surgical strikes' are done. Deb's warning comes four days after three construction workers were kidnapped by suspected National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) insurgents from Maldakumarpara, near the Indo-Bangla border in Dhalai district. The chief minister said an extensive search operation was being carried out to find the kidnapped persons.

Addressing a gathering at Kalyanpur in Khowai district organised by BJP in memory of 24 people killed in a massacre conducted by the banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) in 1996, Deb said the government will not "spare any space for the ultras".

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'We know how to do surgical strikes'

"When speedy development work is on in the state, three persons were kidnapped by ultras who are trying to bring back the black days of insurgency. My government will not leave any space for them. I repeat that those involved in insurgency should leave this path forthwith, or else every single one of them will be arrested and put behind the bars," he said. 

He warned, "Tripura government is like PM Modi's. He knows when and how to do surgical strike on Pakistan; similarly, we know how to do surgical strikes."

Tripura CM asks people to decide his leadership future on Dec 13; BJP reassures Biplab Deb

Chaos in BJP Tripura

Meanwhile, the BJP top brass stepped in to defuse the crisis in the party's Tripura unit on Wednesday and assured Biplab Deb that he can continue serving as the Chief Minister. After a group of BJP members raised 'Biplab Hatao, BJP Bachao' slogans at the state guest house, Deb asked the people of Tripura to gather at the Astabal Maidan in Guwahati on December 13 to decide his fate as the Chief Minister. Subsequently, both the CM and BJP's Tripura in-charge Vinod Sonkar spoke to the party's national president JP Nadda in this regard. The Tripura CM was then advised by top leadership to drop his programme scheduled on December 13.