Tripura cracks down on illegal buildings, new health centre planned

The Tripura Government on Wednesday has demolished the state's renowned social club, Bharat Ratna Sangha, located at Usha Bazar on the outskirts of Agartala city.

This action was taken after the club and its members were allegedly found engaging in illegal activities, including involvement with land mafias, smuggling, and tender negotiations and other illegal activities.
On July 7, the Office of the Sadar Sub-division Magistrate served a notice to the president of the club, Dinesh Sarkar, and the secretary, Chandan Chakraborty, asking them to remove the Bharat Ratna Sangha club within seven days or to show cause by July 15 as to why they should not remove the building. However, the administration began demolishing the building this morning.

Speaking with India Today NE, West District Magistrate Dr. Vishal Kumar said that the Bharat Ratna Sangha club was established on khas land (government land). After demarcation and following all procedures, the government demolished it today to facilitate future projects, such as a Primary Health Care center.

"We want to send a message that if any organization or person is found to be involved in criminal activities like land mafias, smuggling, or tender negotiations, the government will not tolerate it and will take strict actions. This is in line with the Tripura government's zero tolerance policy," he said.
The DM further mentioned that the club had been doing good work for society, and the administration had supported it. 

"But later, we found that some old and new members of the club were engaged in crimes, so we decided to take action. Not only against them but also legal actions will be taken against their properties. 

Following this aim, we have carried out these activities. There were also many other issues, and for that, we have taken this decision. There is a total of around 1 acre of land, and we are planning to open a PHC. Actions will be taken against anyone found to have encroached on government land," he added.
A series of allegations, including murder and extortion, had been raised against this famous club in Tripura. Earlier, on April 30, the former secretary of Bharat Ratna Sangha Club, located in the Usha Bazar area in Agartala, Durga Prasanna Deb, also known as Vicky (35), was shot dead at point-blank range following personal enmity.

Barely three months after the sensational murder of the club secretary, Tripura Police arrested the prime accused, identified as Raju Barman, from Assam. Soon after the murder, the police arrested seven people in the case, including former club president Pradyut Dhar Chowdhury, Sushmita Sarkar, Uma Sarkar, Birchakra Ghosh, Sani Saha, Sandip Kar, and Rakesh Barman. Among them, Birchakra Ghosh, Sandip Kar, and Rakesh Barman were arrested in Kolkata.

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