Agartala, Aug 23 (TIWN / IANS) At least 20 people were injured, a few seriously, here after activists of a tribal party attacked civilians and traders without any provocation, police said on Tuesday.

Tension erupted after hundreds of tribals belonging to Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) took out a rally and indiscriminately attacked passersby and vehicles, triggering retaliation by people of different communities, police said.

The injured, including policemen, have been shifted to hospitals. The unruly IPFT members also set afire some shops and vehicles.

A huge contingent of paramilitary Tripura State Rifles and police have been deployed in the capital city.

The IPFT has been agitating for the creation of a separate state, carved out of by upgrading the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council area.

Tribals constitute a third of Tripura's four million population.