Tripura Cong chief assaults armyman

In a shocking incident, Tripura Congress president Sudip Roy Barman has allegedly been caught on video assaulting an army officer at a shop owned by his brother in Agartala.

In a shocking incident, Tripura Congress president Sudip Roy Barman has allegedly been caught on video assaulting an army officer at a shop owned by his brother in Agartala.

HT Image

In the video CD, a copy of which is with HT, Sudip is shown forcing an Assam Rifles officer Colonel BB Yadav, who is wearing a torn top, to touch the feet of his brother Sandeep who owns a franchise of a telecom service provider in Agartala. Both are former Tripura chief minister Samir Ranjan Roy Barman's sons.

Yadav had apparently demanded refund of his money for returning an Internet data card which he had purchased from Sandeep's shop. A scuffle erupted when Yadav insisted on immediate refund of his money. At this point, Sudip intervened and allegedly assaulted the army officer.

However, Sudip denied the charges and claimed it was actually Yadav who had beaten up his brother.

"The Colonel along with two guards had demanded immediate refund of the money from my brother and when he insisted that he has to send the requisition to the head office in Guwahati, they started beating him up," he told HT over phone.

"On seeing my brother profusely bleeding, I told him that we were going to register an FIR on which he pleaded to forgive him. I told him to seek forgiveness from my brother and let bygones be bygones," Sudip said.

Yadav, who could not be contacted, later issued an apology letter. The incident has triggered a storm in the state unit. Tripura in-charge Luizinho Faleiro said, "I don't know anything."

The incident comes close on the heels of another controversy involving President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit, who was allegedly assaulted by Congress workers near Agartala on September 6.