Eight NLFT ultras nabbed

AGARTALA, MARCH 5: Eight militants of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have been nabbed and a person taken hostage by them has been rescued by security forces during an operation in South Tripura district, police said on Sunday.

Assam Rifles and state police personnel acting on a tipoff conducted a joint raid on Saturday at Garihampara village, under Natunbazar police station, where the ultras were watching a film at a theatre and nabbed them, the police said. On the basis of the information obtained from the nabbed militants, the securitymen conducted another raid at a hideout at Hansaraibari at night and arrested two others of the same outfit, the police said.

The troops also raided NLFT camps at Rangacherra village from where they rescued a kidnapped person and arrested two militants, police said. The nabbed ultras confessed they had killed three other kidnapped persons in captivity for non-payment of ransom and political rivalry, police added. In another incident, NLFT ultras kidnapped one person from Manubari area, police said on Sunday. The man, a local trader, was kidnapped by the armed militants on his way to the market on Saturday, police said.