AGARTALA, May 30 � Militants of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) are threatening officials in local bodies and extorting money allocated for NREGA, meant for providing jobs to rural poor.
Demanding 20 per cent of the allocated Mahatma Gandhi NREGA funds, NLFT insurgents had served �tax notices� on village committee secretaries in Kanchanpur zonal office in North district, Gandacherra and Longterai zonal offices in Dhalai district and Amarpur zonal office in South Tripura district last month, official sources said.
�The insurgents get information in advance about the amount of funds allocated to a particular zonal office and they demand 20 per cent advance, posing a serious threat to implementation of the NREGA programme,� an official said.
A group of 10 NLFT insurgents had raided Shermoon village on May 22 and demanded 20 per cent of wages from 123 NREGA workers. However, a team of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawans reached the village following which the ultras fled.
On May 24, another group of NLFT militants clashed with TSR jawans at Satraipara in Dhalai district when the militants tried to sneak into the village for extortion of NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds.
The insurgent outfit has targeted the NREGA funds as they were facing hardships following resistance in the tribal hamlets by people, stringent anti-insurgency operations and raids by Bangladesh security forces in Chittagong Hill Tracts where they have their base camps, sources said. � PTI
