A 44-year-old functionary of Tripura’s Tipra Motha Party died after being attacked by “unknown miscreants” in the state's Dhalai district, police told reporters on Thursday.
So far, four people have been arrested.
As per the initial report, Pranajit Namasudra and his friend were returning home when the "miscreants" stopped his car and assaulted him. His friends tried to save him and he was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries around midnight. The motive for the attack is unclear.
Meanwhile, in the state's Majlishpur district, more than ten workers from the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were injured hours after the election commission announced the upcoming poll dates.
The party workers reportedly attacked each other in a motorbike rally organized by the Congress Party.
According to Congress, 15 party workers, including regional general secretary for Tripura Ajoy Kumar, were injured after a group of “BJP-backed goons” attacked them.
However, the BJP said that their party office was ransacked by Congress workers, prompting the violence. Both parties have registered legal complaints on the matter.
Political Violence in Tripura
Clashes during electoral processes are commonplace in Tripura.
In 2021, the state reported the highest number of political violence cases (64) among the northeastern states, in which 136 people were injured.
In 2020, a total of 22 political clashes were reported that left 78 people injured. In 2019, there were 20 such cases in which 62 people were wounded.
A total of 370 cases of violence were reported during the 2018 assembly polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) data shows.
Last week, the state Election Commission informed that about 100 companies of paramilitary forces would be deployed in Tripura’s sensitive areas amid fears of an escalation in political violence.