From guns to roses, life turned full circle for 88 militants belonging to National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) on Friday when they laid down arms to join the mainstream in the presence of Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
The NLFT rebels led by Sabir Kumar Debbarma surrendered at Chandraipara Higher Secondary School ground at Ambasa in Tripura’s Dhalai district.
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The militants deposited arms and ammunition to chief minister Deb in the programme.
They deposited three carbines, one mortar, one ordinary gun, six 7.62 MM SLRs, four Chinese rifles, one single bore gun, 19 303 rifles, four M20 pistols, nine wireless sets and huge cache of ammunition.
The Centre on Friday had signed a memorandum of settlement with NLFT (SD), after it agreed to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
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Speaking at the event, chief minister Deb said a section of tribal people of Tripura who took the wrong path of extremism are now returning to mainstream inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sabka sath, Sabka Bikash, Sabka Biswas slogan.
He said that the BJP government is trying to develop the socio-economic condition of the tribal people in the state.
Deb said the state government has decided to allocate Rs 1600 crore to develop the road connectivity in tribal areas.
The chief minister claimed that the previous government had done nothing for the development of the tribals in the state.
The NLFT has been responsible for 317 incidents, in which 28 security forces and 62 civilians lost their lives from 2005 to 2015.
The peace talks with the NLFT were initiated in 2015 and there has been no violence by the outfit since 2016.
Deputy chief minister Jishnu Devbarman and MP Rebati Tripura were also present at the programme on Tuesday.