News
No. 112/2012, Tuesday, October
16, 2012
ONE
JUMMA woman was injured and several houses including a Hindu temple were
damaged and looted when a group of Bengali settlers on Monday night attacked
Rajdhar Karbaripara village
of Baranal Union in
Tabalchari under Matiranga Upazila.
The
attack, which took place at around 9pm,
forced the Jummas to flee their homes.
According
to sources, a group of Bengali settlers from Dak Bangla and its adjacent areas
carried out the attack after accusing the Jummas of ‘being involved in
extortion and terrorist activities’.
‘At
least six houses and a Shiva temple of the Hindu community have been ransacked
and looted.’ a resident of Rajdhar Karbaripara, home to 28 families belonging
to ethnic Tripura nationality, told chtnews.com.
According
to him, the marauding settlers looted Taka 50 thousand and 20 kgs of husked
rice from Loli Tripura alias Mishtri, Taka 15 thousand from Saang Kumar
Tripura, Taka 2 thousand from Mungroi Tripura, a multi-media mobile phone set
from Kantisha Tripura and a mobile phone set from Paanbiti Tripura.
The
attackers also ransacked their houses and beat up 60-year old Bidhata Tripura,
wife of Mohedhor Tripura in the village. She is now undergoing treatment at her
home.
Additionally,
most of the other houses including that of the village chief Dhomini Kumar
Tripura were pelted with brickbats, creating panic among the villagers, who
took shelter in the jungle.
At
around 10pm, members of the Border
Guards Bangladesh from nearby Jamini Para camp were deployed, and the settlers
called it a day.
However,
the settlers also tried to attack Barogram, a Jumma populated village but
retreated when they saw groups of Jumma villagers prepared to defend
themselves.
The
Jumma villagers allege that the attack was led by Ali Akbar, chairman of
Baronal Union Council No. 3; Dhana Mian, a Member of the same Union Council;
Mohiuddin, a local Awami Leage leader; Alauddin alias Babul, a former Union
Council member, and Shahajahan, a Bengali settler.
‘There
is still panic and fear among the villagers and many of those who fled their
home are yet to come back.’ a villager said.
A
meeting between Jummas and Bengali settlers is scheduled to be held at the
local BGB camp at 3pm today, sources
added.
A
similar attack on 4 August in Master Para and Kadamtoli in the same Tabalchari
area had forced Jumma villagers to cross the border to India.
They returned home only after a flag meeting between the BGB and the Indian BSF
forces.
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