An “Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal”, constituted by the
Home Ministry, will visit Tripura from February 2-4 to record evidence
against outlawed insurgent outfits National Liberation Front of Tripura
(NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).
The government had set up the tribunal, headed by Delhi High Court
Judge Suresh Kait, on November 15 last year for adjudicating whether or
not the two Tripura-based militant outfits should be declared banned
organisations under the law.
A fresh ban of five years was imposed on NLFT and ATTF, along with
all their factions, wings and frontal organisations, on October 3 for
their “violent and subversive activities”, which aim at the
establishment of an independent nation by the secession of Tripura from
India through armed struggle.
“The tribunal issued a show cause notice on November 27, 2018, to
NLFT and ATTF for submitting their objections/reply/written statement
within 30 days. The tribunal has decided to visit Agartala, Tripura,
from February 1 to February 4 for the recording of evidence,” a press
release said.
The tribunal will be convened at Agartala State Guest House on
February 2 and 3. “The NLFT and ATTF, if they wish, may represent
themselves on these dates at 10.30 am before the tribunal at Agartala by
making a communication to the Registrar of the Tribunal well in
advance,” the statement said.
NLFT was formed on March 12, 1989, under the leadership of Dhananjoy
Reang. Reang was later expelled from NLFT in 1993 and Nayanbasi Jamatia
became the leader of the faction.
In 2001 NLFT suffered another split and a faction led by Biswamohan
Debbarma emerged. It is now the main active wing of the outfit. NLFT was
outlawed in 1997 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and
later under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
ATTF was formed on July 11, 1990, by a group of former Tripura
National Volunteers (TNV) under the leadership of Ranjit Debbarma.
Though TNV surrendered arms as per a peace accord with the then Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, the Ranjit Debbarma faction dissociated themselves and rechristened itself as ATTF.
ATTF surrendered en masse in 1993 as per the ATTF Peace Accord but
the Ranjit Debbarma faction continued insurgency activities under the
All Tripura Tiger Force banner till Ranjit was arrested in Bangladesh in
2012
