One shot dead by Santu group in Dighinala

chtnews.com News No. 16/2012, April 12, 2012 ARMED gangs loyal to Santu Larma have shot dead a member of its rival faction in Dighinala under Khagrachari district, sources say. The miscreants killed Debesh Chakma, 48, general secretary of Dighinal unit of the Jana Samhati Samiti’s M. N. Larma faction, at 7:30pm at his home in the village of Boradam. Details of the incident are yet to emerge. Earlier in the day, Mr. Chakma had taken part in a Boisabi festival rally in Dighinala. Hundreds of Jumma people, mainly activists of the United Peoples’ Democratic Front (UPDF), have been killed in the hands of the Santu group since the signing of the CHT accord in 1997. Recently, pressure has been mounted on Mr. Larma to halt armed offensives against his opponents and start negotiations to hammer out a peaceful solution. However, he has spurned dialogue and in a recent public meeting in Rangmati demanded that the government, of which he is a local partner, ban UPDF.