Villages along Tripura-Mizoram border tensed after clash of Brus with locals

Agartala, Jul 27 (UNI) Tension mounted up in Kanchanpur of North Tripura following a clash that erupted between Mizoram displaced Brus (Reang) and local tribes near Casco Bru camp at Mizoram border yesterday leaving at least 32 people injured and burnt down several houses, which forced over a hundred families to flee from their houses and take shelter in safe locations in a local market.
To manage the situation police opened fire on the air and resorted to charge batons. Additional forces have been deployed across Damcherra and Kanchanpur areas while senior police officials have sat for discussion with the leaders of both the groups to cease the tension, police said.
According to the report, the local tribes have been given land deeds under Forest Right Acts in the forestland of Casco, which has been under the occupation of displaced Brus. The Brus have not been allowing local tribals to get possession of the plot for a long time and the administration held several phases of meeting with both the groups but yielded no result.
“Allegedly a group of local tribals had gone to take possession of the land as per government record but Brus attacked them with indigenous weapons and left at least 23 people critically injured. The counterattack by the locals had left nine Brus injured,” said local police, adding that all of the injured persons were shifted to local hospital and doctors declared them out of danger.
Meantime, another group of Brus has allegedly stormed the nearby habitations and set a few houses on fire. As soon as the information spread, the locals from other habitations got assembled in Casco intending to attack the Bru camp. Police rushed to the spot and tried to prevent the mob but failed, which prompted the security personnel to open fire in the air to disperse the crowd, police added.
The Superintendent of Police (North) Bhanupada Chakraborty along with all senior police and civil administration officers have rushed to Damcherra and made dialogues with the parties to defuse the tension for the whole last night. The families which left home out of fear were provided food from the administration and security has been beefed up in the entire stretch.
“We are continuing discussions to resolve the issue and maintain peace in the area,” Chakraborty said.
The district administration sources added that as per the quadripartite pact signed by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the State governments of Tripura, Mizoram and leaders of displaced Brus, Casco camp area was allotted for rehabilitation of Brus like other places.
However, the people of Narendra Nagar in Damcherra were given patta, which they are also not willing to leave and local people have been alleging to police of destroying their agricultural produce by Brus for the last two weeks.