Police officials suspect the detainees are part of a Chakma outfit with past ties to a movement that wanted a separate state out of Bangladesh.
Tripura Police on Tuesday night detained 13 injured members of a Bangladesh-based group, including two women, from a rented house near Agartala. The detainees, suspected to be part of a Chakma community organisation active in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, will be pushed back to Bangladesh soon, officials told news agency IANS.
According to preliminary reports, the group crossed the international border illegally through Raishyabari in Dhalai district following a violent clash with a rival outfit in Bangladesh’s Panchari region last week. Several members have visible injuries, with bandages on their legs and arms.
Senior police officials interrogated the group throughout Wednesday before handing them over to the Mobile Task Force (MTF), which later transferred them to the Border Security Force (BSF). A joint repatriation effort is expected soon.
The armed clash they fled from is believed to be part of the long-running tensions in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a region historically affected by ethnic insurgency. The Shanti Bahini insurgency, driven by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), ended formally with a peace accord signed with the Bangladesh government in 1997.
The PCJSS, formed in 1972 under Manabendra Narayan Larma, initially pushed for autonomy for the indigenous Jumma peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Their demands included a separate legislative body for the Chittagong Hill Tracts, constitutional protection for tribal customs, and preservation of traditional leadership.
Although the group officially sought autonomy within Bangladesh, elements of its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini, reportedly pursued full sovereignty. Larma had also protested the Bangladesh Constitution’s draft, calling for complete separation.
The insurgency waged by the Shanti Bahini ended with the 1997 CHT Peace Accord, which granted limited autonomy and led to the group’s disarmament. The PCJSS has since operated as a political party, demanding full implementation of the agreement.
However, reports of sporadic violence and tension have persisted, particularly following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in August 2024.
Since then, there have been multiple allegations of attacks on indigenous communities in the CHT by security forces and illegal settlers. Many Chakmas continue to live under fear of reprisal and political marginalisation.
The Chakma people, predominantly Buddhist, are native to the CHT in southeast Bangladesh, as well as Myanmar’s Chin and Arakan regions, and several northeastern Indian states.
