Agartala, Dec. 19: Shortly after his appointment as Tripura PCC president, Samir Ranjan Barman had set ?Mission-2008? as his goal ? of guiding the Congress back to power in the Assembly polls scheduled for that year.

The Congress, which had been in a shambles, showed initial signs of reviving, but the drubbing in the just-concluded elections to the Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) and 12 nagar panchayats has dealt a body blow to the party?s prospects in Tripura.

Congress spokesman Ratan Chakraborty and the PCC chief attributed the debacle to the ?scientific rigging and terror of the CPM? while the Left Front claimed the massive mandate as ?unstinted support extended by the people? to their policies.

A CPM statement issued in New Delhi congratulated the people for the massive victory, adds PTI. ?The people of Tripura have reposed their confidence in the CPM and the Left Front in a decisive manner. The politburo greets them for this popular victory,? the statement said.

In the previous AMC polls, held in 2000, the Trinamool Congress factor had worked against the Congress and the party was left with only two seats.

In the added AMC areas, comprising the rural areas, the Congress has failed to win a single seat. Despite denials made by party leaders, Congress candidates are certain to face problems in the next Assembly elections only two years away.

On the other hand, buoyed by its victory in the civic polls, the Left Front is already looking ahead to the Assembly elections. It will go all out to win the urban constituencies while sparing no effort to retain its traditional base in the tribal-dominated areas.

Torture allegation

Police highhandedness and alleged persecution in the name of counter-insurgency operations continue to cause resentment among tribal people in the remote areas.

In a bizarre incident, police personnel in Amarpur yesterday arrested two tribal women from Gamaku village. The women, identified as Indrarani Jamatya and Akaiti Jamatya, work as labourers.

Seeking intervention of chief minister Manik Sarkar to have the women released, INPT legislator Nagendra Jamatya said their husbands were members of the NLFT.

?These women are poor labourers with children and they cannot be accused for their husbands? involvement in militant activities,? said Jamatya.

Citing several cases of persecution of innocent tribals by the police, he alleged: ?As many as 21 innocent tribal youths have been killed by the police and Tripura State Rifles in fake encounters.?

Official sources said Sarkar has ordered superintendent of police (south) Arvind Singh to investigate the matter and release the arrested women.

Sources, however, said it was an isolate incident as police and paramilitary forces were under instruction to refrain from excesses.