12 FIRs lodged against teachers in connection with clashes with police in Agartala

Jan. 29: In a significant development, 12 FIRs were registered by Tripura Police against teachers in connection with the clashes between police and the protesting teachers in Agartala on Wednesday.

It has been 52 days that as many as 10323 terminated teachers launched a protest against the Tripura Government demanding re-recruitment into various departments of the State Government. These teachers had lost their jobs in March last year due to a Tripura High Court ruling in 2017 that termed their recruitment process to be faulty.

On Wednesday, more than 100 people, including security personnel and protesting teachers, were injured in Agartala on Wednesday after the police used force to thwart the protesters’ attempt to picket outside Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb’s official residence. The injured teachers and the police personnel were admitted to the Agartala Medical College and Hospital and Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital in Agartala.

As per reports, Police has resorted to lathi-charge, firing of tear gas shells and water cannons on agitating teachers. Earlier on Wednesday morning, a massive force of police and paramilitary personnel had vacated the location at Paradise Chowmuhani in Agartala, where the protestors had been demonstrating for the past 52 days. Over 160 agitating teachers were also arrested by the police earlier in the day.

Opposition leader and former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar visited the injured at IGM Hospital in the evening. After coming out of the hospital, Sarkar told reporters, “There was no need to beat the teachers.”