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NLFT suffers jolt as 40 militants surrender

By Correspondent

AGARTALA, Aug 5 - The outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-B) has suffered one of its worst setbacks as around 40 hardcore militants surrendered at Chowmanhu, a remote area in Dhalai district, according to sources.

The family members of the 40 insurgents who had crossed over the Indo-Bangla border on Sunday, have now taken shelter in facilities provided by the BSF and Special Branch of the state police.

A total of 131 people � including the ultras and their family members � surrendered. The 40 militants were taken to Agartala by the BSF for interrogation, while their family members have been kept in undisclosed locations due to security reasons.

The formal surrender of the 131 people will take place on August 15.

Self-styled NLFT commander Subir Debbarma and his aide Shanti Koloi led the entire group in the surrender process, according to sources. NLFT�s women�s wing commander Anjana Debbarma was also among the 40 militants.

The surrender is being considered strategic as the outlawed group had only 60-65 hardcore members in hideouts in Bangladesh, out of which around 40 have surrendered.

Although the 40 militants could not bring many arms and ammunition from their hideouts, they laid down three AK-series rifles, five carbines, six SLRs, 13 rifles and a pistol, according to sources.

This was for the first time, a strong contingent of NLFT-B militants, who had to face the heat from Bangladeshi security forces, are going to formally join the mainstream after the BJP-IPFT government came to power in March 2019. However, the state police and BSF are tight-lipped over the surrender process.

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