Normal life came to a standstill in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, following bandhs called by the opposition parties including the BJP, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura protesting the killing of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik on November 21 by the body guard of second battalion TSR commandant. Violence erupted in various parts of the town that left 12 persons including a police personnel injured. Agartala wore a deserted look as all the business establishments downed their shutters and vehicles were off the roads. Banks and financial institutions and private offices remained closed. Some of the injured have been identified as Rajesh Saha, Suman Ghosh, Diptanu Chowdhury, Sanjay Das and police personnel Srikanta Bardhan.
Police arrested more than hundred activists of various political parties during the bandh.
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The state government, which has handed over the case to the CID, also constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident. Bhaumik, who was a reporter with “Syandan Patrika” and television channel “The Vanguard”, was survived by his wife, a government teacher, and two children.
Most of the local newspapers left their editorial blank on Thursday with a thick black border to register their strong protest over the killing. Manas Paul, Editor of Tripura Times said, “As far as the institutional protest is concern we decided to keep our editorial space blank in protest of the murder of journalist Sudip Datta Bhaumik by the TSR. There is no editorial in today’s almost all paper.”
Similar was the version of News Editor of Danik Sambad, Pradip Datta Bhaumik who is also the elder brother of the deceased journalist. He alleged that it was a ‘cold blood murder’.
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Right from the early morning BJP supporters and senior leaders cordoned the gate of the Tripura Legislative and Assembly gate area where huge number of police personnels and paramilitary forces were deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb, observer Sunil Deodhar, MLA Sudip Roy Barman, Asish Kumar Saha and other leaders were present in the sit in protest demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also the incharge of Home portfolio.
They raised anti-Manik Sarkar slogans and alleged that he should resign as has totally failed to give security to people of the state.