Places of worship attacked in Tripura; govt suspends net services, removes SP

Agartala: Places of worship of two communities were attacked by mobs in a village in Tripura’s North district on Tuesday, prompting the administration to suspend mobile internet services and remove the superintendent of police, officials said.

Tension prevailed in Pekurcherra, a remote village of Panisagar subdivision, following the attacks that came days after a clash between two communities over collection of Durga puja subscriptions left one person dead and 17 others injured at another place in the same district.

“Due to communal tension in some areas of North Tripura district, SMS and mobile internet services were suspended for the next 72 hours,” Home Secretary P K Chakravarty said in an official notification.

A Shiva temple and a mosque were attacked by mobs and amid escalating tension, SP Bhanupada Chakraborty was “closed to police headquarters with immediate effect. He should move and report to police headquarters immediately”, Director General of Police Amitabh Ranjan said in an order.

Avinash Rai, the SP of Dhalai district, will look after North district till further order, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Law & Order, Ananta Das, told PTI.

“Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS will be promulgated shortly to maintain peace,” Das said.