Congress youth leader’s house attacked after he criticises Tripura Govt, police for alleged inaction against clashes on Bakrid

His comments sparked controversy online, and several netizens, including BJP activists, demanded action against the Congress leader. The ruling BJP filed a complaint late Sunday at the East Agartala Police Station against Miah.

After Miah’s house in the Shantipara area of Agartala was attacked, the police soon rushed to the spot and tried to bring the situation under control.

In his statement to the police, Miah said he was attacked by a band of goons as soon as he returned home from the Congress office. He also alleged that the attackers, who were purportedly brandishing firearms, wanted to kill him, but he locked himself inside a room. He said the group later assaulted his parents and wife.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and MLA Sudip Roy Barman, Tripura state Congress president Ashish Kumar Saha, and others visited his house later.

Roy Barman condemned the attack on Miah’s house, and said he would seek justice from the court. “He (Shahjahan) made a political attack on the chief minister in a Facebook live yesterday. He had an outburst over numerous incidents of attacks centring on Eid yesterday. Very rightly, these outbursts happened. But these attacks on his residence right next to a mosque speak volumes about how a fascist government is running in the state, led by the chief minister. There is no rule of law. These people who were seen involved in the attack on his residence tonight are all very close to him (CM). This incident must be in the knowledge of the CM. These are happening because he (CM) is indulging them,” Roy Barman said.

He also demanded immediate arrest and legal action against those he claimed were involved in the attack on Miah’s house. He said legal action would be initiated against everyone involved in such assaults, either now or later.

Chief Minister Saha’s family was ancestrally based at Shantipara. State Congress president Ashish Kumar Saha lives in the same area, and dropped Miah at his home on his way back from the party office last night.

Sunday’s incident came after clashes were reported on Bakrid, which was celebrated a day before, at different places in Udaipur in the Gomati district. Four people were detained for allegedly slaughtering a cow in public near a water body in the Chhanban area in Udaipur. A similar incident occurred in the Rajnagar area of Udaipur, where a minority family was accused of slaughtering a cow in the open.

In a separate incident, a group of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists intercepted a vehicle loaded with a few cattle, and handed them over to the West Agartala Police Station, suspecting that the animals were being illegally transported. However, the cattle owners claimed they had valid documents of sale and ownership.

In February 2022, the Tripura High Court ordered the state government to prohibit the sale of meat products in public places and streets and said the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) should prepare a long-term plan for setting up abattoirs and slaughterhouses and ensuring the disposal of garbage appropriately and scientifically.

The order, passed by Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice SG Chattopadhyaya, came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Ankan Tilak Paul, and was preceded by AMC’s decision to set up abattoirs or slaughter houses for handling animal slaughter for meat sale in the city.

The Agartala civic body issued a notification prohibiting the slaughtering and sale of meat in the municipal area on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti. The municipal corporation also asked meat vendors to apply and get registered and necessary permission as part of he corporation’s plan to stop uncontrolled public slaughtering of animals.