AGARTALA, May 10 (TIWN): National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) hardcore militant, Atharababu Halam known for fronting the banned terrorist outfit and the alleged ‘mastermind’ of ex-Health Minister of the state Bimal Sinha has reportedly surrendered before the Director General of Police (DGP) K Nagaraj recently in the police head quarter.

However, it was alleged that Halam is the mastermind behind Minister Bimal Sinha’s murder case. Besides, other militants from the banned militant outfit namely Sergeant Major, Uttam Kumar Jamatia and Corporal Krishna Mohan Debbarma has also reportedly surrendered before the police recently.

Police recovered Two M 20 Pistols, eleven round of bullets, one Chinese grenade, three SBBL guns and many other deadly weapons from the surrendered militants.

Talking to TIWN in this regard IGP (HGs & Police Control) Nepal Chandra Das said, “The surrendered extremists are under police custody.” Adding to that he said that police is currently interrogating them.

Speculations are widespread that with the surrender of Halam, extremist hideouts in Bangladesh’s Rangamati, Panchhari and Dighinalay will be discovered soon.

Besides, it is yet to be revealed that whether Halam was involved with the assassination of ex-Health Minister Bimal Sinha.

Former health minister and popular CPM leader Bimal Sinha was assassinated along with his youngest brother, Bidyut, on March 31, 1998 at Avanga village by NLFT militants when he went to negotiate the release of Bikram Sinha, their adopted brother from the militants' captivity. NLFT militants had kidnapped Bikram on February 9, 1998. 

Later during the enquiry CID found that a total of 27 people were involved in the crime, including two NLFT militants, Nabakumar Debbarma and Biswadayal Jamatia, who were seen shooting the minister and his brother. 

Tripura, a land- locked hilly state in the North-Eastern India is surrounded on the north, west and south by Bangladesh. It has an international land boundary with Bangladesh for about 856 Km. The state has been facing the scourge of militancy for more than two decades. Presently two militant groups namely NLFT and ATTF are operating in the state.

They are equipped with sophisticated weapons and have the expertise and training in explosive handling largely due to their link with ISI.

However, according to the police there has been significant improvement in the insurgency situation of the State. The statistics enclosed highlights improvement which is being sustained during the year 2005-2015.

Tripura Police has adopted a multi pronged strategy to deal with the problems of insurgency which includes providing security to developmental measures as well as conducting security operations. As a part of security measures, 28 Police Station areas in full and 6 Police Station areas in part have been declared as disturbed under Armed Force (Special Powers) Act.