Tension gripped parts of Agartala on Friday evening after a group of people gathered aggressively outside the West Agartala police station, blocking roads and removing police barricades, following a communal attack on a Muslim rickshaw puller. The protest led to traffic disruption and panic among commuters, with videos showing one masked protester hitting the glass of an auto rickshaw and threatening drivers.
The protest erupted after a rickshaw puller, Didar Hossain, was allegedly attacked by a group of miscreants in the Nibedita Club area of Agartala. According to the victim, the attackers stopped him, asked his name, and assaulted him after learning that he was a Muslim.
Didar Hossain, who hails from Birchandra Manu in South Tripura and lives as a tenant in Agartala’s Bitarban area, said the incident took place when he was returning home after work. After paying the daily rent for his rickshaw, he was intercepted by four to five men who abused him, beat him severely, pushed him into a heap of sand and attempted to set him on fire. He alleged that the attackers also robbed him of ₹1,200, which was his entire day’s earnings.
“I was beaten badly and thrown into the sand. They tried to burn me. I survived only because they ran away after hearing my screams,” Didar said in his complaint. He is currently undergoing medical treatment for both physical and mental trauma.
An FIR was lodged at the West Agartala police station under serious sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including attempt to murder and causing grievous injury by fire. However, as no arrests were made immediately, angry locals and supporters gathered outside the police station demanding action.
Congress MLA and former Tripura minister Sudip Roy Barman visited the police station and accompanied the victim while filing the complaint. He strongly condemned the attack, calling it a “heinous communal assault”.
“The attackers told him that Muslims are not allowed to live in that area,” Roy Barman said. “The way fundamentalists target minorities elsewhere, RSS-backed miscreants are trying to create the same atmosphere here,” he told local media.
He added that Didar Hossain is a poor daily wage worker who struggles to support his family. “After the assault and robbery, he did not even have money left to buy food,” he said.
Residents of Bitarban also held protests, warning that such identity-based violence could spread fear and unrest if not checked. Tipra Motha leader Shah Alam, who joined the protest, alleged police inaction and said minorities often do not get timely justice.
“If such attacks continue, it will destroy social harmony,” Roy Barman said. “In a democracy, there is no place for hatred and violence based on religion.”
