BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 27th January 2024 : Kalai Para, a village under Teliamura police station in Khowai district, witnessed a tense situation on Saturday morning after 14 houses under construction as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme were demolished by unknown miscreants on Friday night. The beneficiaries of the scheme, who were supposed to get their houses soon, blocked the road in protest and demanded the restoration of the Special Police Officer (SPO) camp in the area, which was removed a few months ago.
According to one of the protesters, the village had been peaceful until recently, but some criminal elements had started to create trouble in the past two years. He said that 17 houses were being built under the PMAY scheme, but 14 of them were completely destroyed by the miscreants, while the remaining three suffered minor damages. He also alleged that the miscreants had looted their vegetable crops and threatened them with dire consequences.
The police were informed about the incident by the Rabindranagar Anchal Committee secretary of the CPIM, which has a strong presence in the area. The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Teliamura police station, Rajib Debnath, said that a large police force was deployed to the spot to control the situation and prevent any untoward incident. He said that the police were investigating the matter and trying to identify the culprits.
The protest was called off after the intervention of the local MLA and Janjati Kalyan minister Bikash Debbarma, who belongs to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He assured the protesters that the government would provide them with adequate security and compensation for their losses. He also said that he would discuss the issue of reinstating the SPO camp with the higher authorities. He was accompanied by the District Collector and Magistrate (DCM) and the Block Development Officer (BDO) of the area.
