Agartala: Tension ran high at Kailashahar, the headquarters of Unakoti district in Tripura on Wednesday after a face-off erupted between two influential groups surrounding a multi-crore worth government contract of the Water Resource Department.
Tension escalated further when miscreants set a motorcycle on fire in front of the office of the Executive Engineer Water Resource Department, prompting the deployment of cops and Tripura State Rifle troopers.
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In order to defuse the tension, a large number of police and TSR personnel under the leadership of SDPO Kailashahar Jayanta Karmakar cordoned off the office compound.
Sources said that ADN Constructions of Kailashahar received the tender worth Rs 3.40 crore.
The construction firm belongs to Akmat Ali, a resident of the Jalai area in Kailashahar.
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However, the development did not go down well with the competitors in the bidding process.
The rivals of ADN Constructions used their political influence to try to prevent the issuance of the work order. Wednesday was the last date for getting the work order.
When the officials of the construction company went to obtain the work order, they faced resistance, and subsequently, tension prevailed.
Sources claimed that there was a political angle to the face-off as well.
Sources stated that the owner of the company awarded the construction work is a close aide of Congress MLA Birajit Sinha, while those who emerged as rivals of Sinha’s group are loyalists of the ruling BJP.