Agartala: Eighty-eight members of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), on Tuesday, surrendered to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, three days after signing a tri-partite agreement in New Delhi with the Centre and the Tripura government.
Accompanied by their 125 family members, NLFT members of the SD faction, led by Sabir Kumar Debbarma, also surrendered arms and ammunition at Ambassa in the Dhalai district, 100 km north of Agartala.
The surrendered arms included 3 AK-47 rifles, 6 self-loading rifles, 4 Chinese rifles, 4 carbines, 4 pistols, 1,876 ammunition and other devices, like 16 time devices and 9 wireless sets.
Addressing the event, the Chief Minister urged them to join the development process initiated by the state government with special thrust on education, health and infrastructure.
“The rebels understood that they were on a wrong path and have joined the mainstream. We expect all cooperation from them for welfare measures undertaken,” Deb said.
A a tripartite memorandum of settlement (MoS) was signed on August 10 between the Centre, the Tripura government and the NLFT facilitating the surrender.
After the signing of MoS, the NLFT representatives also met Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to an official release, the MoS was signed by Union Home Ministry’s Joint Secretary (North-East) Satyendra Garg, Tripura government’s Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Kumar Alok and Sabir Kumar Debbarma and Kajal Debbarma on behalf of the NLFT.
The Tripura government would help the surrendered rebels in constructing their houses, recruitment in government jobs and take care of the educational expenses of their children. (IANS)
