Communal tension flares up in north Tripura

AGARTALA: A fresh communal tensions flared up in Pekucherra in north Tripura on Tuesday after a Shiva temple and a mosque were vandalized by some miscreants, police said here.

Besides deployment of heavy security forces, internet and text message services were suspended for three days in North Tripura. There is no report of any arrest, so far.

The unrest started late on Monday night when unknown miscreants damaged a temple of Lord Shiva in Pekucherra.

This sparked serious repercussions among the locals, villagers retaliated by attacking a nearby mosque and ransacked. Tensions quickly escalated as news of the incidents spread.

It spreads in nearby Unokoti district and a large number of minority people demonstrated in Irani police station of Kailashahar seeking security protection, police said.

The area had already been tense after a recent rape of a Hindu girl. Two suspects had been arrested in connection with the crime. But the people were in anguish and the temple vandalism further inflamed the situation.

The Director General of Police, closed SP North Tripura Bhanupada to police headquarters in the evening and SP Dhalai Avinash Rai was given additional charge of North Tripura district.