AIZAWL, Nov 15 - A total of 221 internally-displaced Bru families comprising 892 people have returned to Mizoram from six relief camps in north Tripura since the commencement of the ninth round of repatriation on October 3, Mizoram Home Department officials said today.
Of the 892 people, 351 are minors and the remaining adults, they added. The ongoing repatriation process is scheduled to be completed on November 30.
Of the repatriated Brus, 134 families have been settled at Mamit district, 68 in Lunglei and 19 in Kolasib district of Mizoram, the officials said.
The Brus or Reangs, one of the 21 scheduled tribes in the country, had to flee Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic clashes.
The Mizoram Bru Displaced People�s Forum (MBDPF), the apex body of the Bru inmates at the six relief camps, had claimed that six people, including babies, have died in the camps since October 29 �because of starvation� after the rations supply to the 35,000-odd internally-displaced persons was stopped.
The Tripura Government, however, said four people died and the cause of the deaths was being ascertained.
A Supreme Court lawyer had earlier this week sent a legal notice to six officials, including Tripura DGP Akhil Kumar Shukla and North Tripura District Magistrate Ravel H Kumar, for stopping the supply of free rations and cash dole to the Brus, the MBDPF said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs stopped free rations and cash dole after the commencement of the ninth round of repatriation on October 3.
The displaced people had launched a roadblock at Anandabazar, known for a prominent market, at Kanchanpur in North Tripura district from October 31, demanding resumption of the cash dole and free rations to them. � PTI
