Tripura oppn ups ante over CBI probe debate

Agartala: Opposition parties have protested against the Tripura assembly speaker's decision to reject discussion on the demand for a CBI investigation into the August 23 clash between tribals and non-tribals during a rally organized by the Indigenous People's Front of Twipra (IPFT) in Agartala.
Speaker RC Debnath shot down the request by Trinamool Congress MLA Ashis Saha and Congress MLA Gopal Roy for a discussion in the assemblyon the demand for an inquiry by a sitting high court judge and the CBI into the Agartala clash.Debnath countered this by saying that the state government had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the deposition of witnesses has already begun.
" Since the district magistrate is inquiring into the matter, we do not have the jurisdiction to consider the demand for an inquiry by any other authority," Debnath said.
Opposition MLAs, however, launched a rebuttal and argued that since the law requires a magisterial report on criminal incidents besides the police report, it has been used to cover up the ruling party's actions, opposition leaders said.
"There is no bar on discussing the issue in the assembly. By rejecting the plea for discussion, they have proved their involvement in the incident," Congress MLA Ratan Lal Nath said. In separate reactions, Congress, Trinamool Congress, BJP, tribal-based IPFT and INPt said they would continue to fight for impartial investigation of the incident.