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| Sumit Debbarma is a third-year student at Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Polytechnic College. |
Twenty-one days after Sumit Debbarma was shot during police action on
Citizenship Bill protesters at Madhabbari in West Tripura district, his
family is yet to get a reimbursement of the hospital bills, amounting
to Rs 96,000, from the state government.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, Sumit Debbarma, who is a third-year
student at Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC)
Polytechnic College, Tuesday said he was at home on January 8 when the clashes broke out
between Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and protesters. His
college was closed due to a strike called in the Tripura ADC areas. He
heard gunshots and went out to see what had happened when he felt a
searing pain in his chest as a bullet fired by a TSR jawan hit him.
“I was home. It was around 11:30 am. Usually, I am in college at this
time but there was a strike call in ADC that day. So, the college was
closed. I heard shots being fired and loud shouting near my home. I went
out to see what was happening. There were men fleeing the spot of
protest, which is a bit far from our home. I started running back when
the bullet hit me,” he said.
Sumit also said that he, along with another person injured in police
firing, was being taken to Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital in Agartala from
Khumulwng in an ambulance when some security personnel halted the
vehicle and ransacked it while assaulting the injured patients inside.
“They were TSR jawans who blocked the ambulance and attacked us. I
was half-conscious inside the ambulance and saw police and TSR personnel
beating us. I had a gunshot on my chest at the time,” he said.
Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF), which is a partner student body of
North East Students’ Organization (NESO) in Tripura, set up a blockade
at Madhbabari in West Tripura district as part of a Northeast strike on
January 8. Few hours after it started, few picketers got infuriated and
set some shops ablaze. In order to control the mob, police burst tear
gas cells and made “blank fires” to disperse the mob. At least 15
persons were injured in police action, including three who sustained
bullet injuries.
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| Sumit with his father Kishore Debbarma. |
Meanwhile, Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya has also given the family Rs 20,000 cash assistance.
“We got cash support from government for air fares to Kolkata. We
have received Rs 1 lakh cash compensation from the government. There is
no news if they will reimburse the treatment bills. The entire money
went from our pockets,” he said.
Kishore Debbarma is a junior workshop technician in the Department of Agriculture of the state government.
He also said that TSR went unruly against tribal persons in the
locality and targeted them. “TSR is deployed by government to save
people. They did not have firing orders. How did they fire upon people? I
want justice for my son,” Kishore Debbarma said.
