Red alert sounded in Tripura 

Agartala, Aug 11: Red alert is sounded in Tripura and security has been beefed up along the 856 km-long porous international border with Bangladesh following the Independence Day boycott call by two outlawed insurgent outfits of the state. 

All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have called for the boycott and a general strike from 1 am to 6 pm on August 15. 

Tripura Director General of Police (DGP) Pranay Sahaya has sent directives to all the police stations to keep strict vigil on the situation and act accordingly. 

Regular checks were being conducted at airports, hotels, temples and market places as well as of vehicles entering the towns from outside, police said. 

Security has been tightened at vital installations like Raj Bhavan, secretariat, airports and important government buildings, the police said. 

A joint statement issued by Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF), the political wing of ATTF, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF) and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) today asked the people of the northeast 'to boycott and prevent the (Independence Day) celebrations in any manner'. 

NLFT, which has distributed a large number of leaflets, said it had given the call for the boycott as the aspirations of the people of the region in general and the indigenous people in particular had not been fulfilled. 

Paramilitary forces like Tripura State Rifles, Assam Rifles and CRPF have intensified their patrolling and combing operations in hilly and insurgency hit areas of Tripura, official sources said. 

BSF patrolling has been intensified in the border areas to check infiltration of any kind from neighbouring Bangladesh, A K Singh, BSF DIG, said.