Two prison officials held in Tripura after militant serving life term escapes

AGARTALA — Two prison officials in Tripura’s central jail were arrested on Wednesday for their alleged role in the escape of a militant belonging to the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) serving life sentence from the prison located in Sepahijala district on Tuesday.

The police said that warden Tapan Rupini and guard commander Mafiz Mia were arrested on suspicion of helping the NLFT militant — Swarna Kumar Tripura — flee from the jail on Tuesday.

An officer said that an intensive search operation has been launched to nab Swarna Kumar. The Border Security Force (BSF) has also been put on high alert to prevent the convict from crossing over to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The police earlier said the inmate was found missing during routine checking on Tuesday morning.

Based in Bangladesh, the NLFT cadre was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty in multiple cases, including for murder and kidnapping.

Swarna Kumar had escaped twice before — from the central jail in 2016 and from the Kanchanpur sub-jail in 2022. He was re-arrested in 2023 and since then he was lodged at the central jail.

There are around 650 inmates in the central jail located around 30 km from here.