Draft:Madhabbari Police Firing

On 8 January 2019, police officers fired on members of the Twipra Students' Federation (TSF) during a protest in Madhabbari, Jirania, West Tripura against the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Five civilians were injured, and one officer was injured by protesters.

Background
In January 2019, the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) called for a complete shutdown of all seven states in the North Eastern region of India to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Incident
On 8 January 2019, Twipra Students' Federation, a tribal-based student organization and constituent of NESO, blocked the Assam-Agartala National Highway at Madhabbari near Jirania in Tripura. Several hundred protesters participated. The protesters burnt atleast 22 shops in the area. The CRPF and Tripura State Rifles jawans took recourse to lathi-charge and deployed tear gas shells to quell the unrest and regain control of the situation. The police enforced Section 144 and instructed the protesters to disperse. On refusing to disperse, the jawans opened fire on the protestors.

Victims
In total, six people were injured: five civilians were injured by gunfire, and TSR Jawan Dinesh Kumar was injured when protesters threw stones and bottles at security personnel. The five civilians were Sumit Debbarma, Lalit Mohan Debbarma, Sankar Debbarma, Pohar Debbarma and Rabi Debbarma.

Reactions
Then-Chief Minister of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb said: "This role of police is not tolerable. Police personnel engaged for public safety cannot disrupt peace.” Former Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar also criticized the action of. police, saying “All those shot (by police) during the protest, except one, sustained bullet injuries on their back, indicating they were running away. I think firing on them was perhaps not necessary".

The Asian Human Rights Commission called for an immediate inquiry to investigate the firing and prosecute and punish the guilty officers. The authorities must also provide medical assistance to the victims.

The Left Front (Tripura) convenor Bijan Dhar termed this incident "state sponsored terror."

Aftermath
Twipra Students Federation declared 8 January as Black Day in Tripura.

Government response
The Tripura government initiated a magisterial inquiry into the violence that transpired in Madhabbari, West Tripura district. Additionally, the government banned on SMS and mobile internet services for two days apprehending law and order in the state.