Agartala, Nov. 13: The Tripura government has decided to withdraw the escort cover from National Highway 44 to pave way for faster movement of vehicles following a noticeable decline in insurgency over the past few years.

The final withdrawal is likely to take effect very soon. “We have made a survey of the security situation and location of the Tripura State Rifles-manned camps along the vulnerable stretch of the highway from Chakmaghat to Manu and it was decided that the escort cover can be withdrawn now,” a police source said.

He said the matter has been discussed at the highest level and a green signal obtained from chief minister Manik Sarkar, who is also the home minister.

The Tripura government had been forced to introduce the system of having long convoys of vehicles escorted by soldiers in 1995 because of insurgency.

National Highway 44 has been Tripura’s lifeline with the rest of the country since it was built, but a long series of militant attacks resulting in killing and abduction of passengers made it unsafe since 1993. By early 1995, the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that the state government introduced an escort system with CRPF jawans from Chakmaghat in West Tripura to Manu in Dhalai district.

All other major link roads within the state also came under CRPF escort cover on specific and vulnerable stretches following the threat of insurgent attacks.

The escort cover was also a major irritant since the arrangement of vehicles in long convoys prolonged the journey, thereby posing major problems for the passengers.

However, the practice had to be persisted with because of threat of rebel attacks.

Sources said the matter of withdrawing the escort cover was being contemplated for a long time but the decision has been expedited by the introduction of railway service between Agartala, Silchar and Lumding.

“The passengers always prefer train journeys for lower costs and comfort despite some problems like delay plaguing the railway service. As a result, passengers travelling by bus have dwindled over the past month since October 5,” the source said.

Infiltrators held

Four youths from Station Road area of North Tripura’s Dharmanagar town were arrested on Tuesday on charges of moving around suspiciously. They have been identified as Nur Mahbub, Mohammed Hannan, Abdul Hasan and Hasan Ahmed, all in their twenties. However, their accomplice Bhairu Mia, escaped.

The youths have been sent to five days’ police custody by the sub-divisional magistrate.