The Tripura Police on Tuesday arrested seven persons and suspended three police officers in connection with the vandalism of the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala a day earlier, The Indian Express reported.
Departmental proceedings have been initiated for negligence against the three suspended police officers, identified as Sub-Inspectors Dilu Jamatia and Joynal Hossain and Sergeant Debabrata Sinha.
The developments came after protestors from a group called the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti on Monday breached the security arrangements at the diplomatic mission in Agartala, pulled down Bangladesh’s national flag and damaged property.
The suspected assailants have been charged with assaulting public servants on duty, unlawful assembly, rioting and criminal trespassing under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
After the vandalism, additional security personnel were deployed and patrolling was carried out near the diplomatic mission.
The Hindu Sangharsh Samiti was protesting the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong on November 25. The monk was arrested on sedition charges after he allegedly insulted Bangladesh’s national flag during a rally in Chittagong on October 25.
Das is the spokesperson of the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jote, an organisation that advocates for the rights of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. He was formerly associated with the West Bengal-based International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON.
On Monday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that the vandalism of the diplomatic mission in Agartala was “deeply regrettable”.
“Government is taking action to step up security arrangements for the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and their Deputy/Assistant High Commissions in the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said that it “deeply resents” the attack and urged New Delhi to thoroughly investigate it. It said the attack violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires that diplomatic missions be protected.
Dhaka pointed to an incident from November 28, when protestors in Kolkata reportedly burned the Bangladeshi national flag during a demonstration. It urged Indian authorities to prevent any further violence at its diplomatic missions.
On the violence in Agartala, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry alleged that protestors were “allowed to aggress into the premises” in a planned manner and that the vandalism took place in the presence of law enforcement officials. It alleged that the police “were found not to be active” in containing the situation.
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