Rape accused Tripura official held in Assam

A senior Tripura government officer, missing and on the run for a fortnight after rape accusation, was arrested on Tuesday in neighbouring Assam's Karimganj, police said.

"Acting on a tip-off, a Tripura Police team went to Karimganj town and arrested Panna Ahmed, 44, from a house there. He will be brought here and presented in a court for seeking his police custody," West Tripura district police chief Abhijit Saptarshi told reporters.

The Tripura government suspended Ahmed, who was a sub-divisional magistrate in Sonamura sub-division of Sepahijala district.

"The state government had recently requested the Union Home Ministry for issuance of a red corner notice to track the official," Saptarshi said.

Opposition Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress have been holding protest demonstrations at Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's official residence and other places in the state almost daily since June 27.

A Muslim woman filed an FIR with the West Agartala police station here on June 27 that Ahmed, a state civil service official, called her to his private residence here and raped her.

"After getting report from the District Magistrate and police, the Chief Minister ordered Ahmed's suspension," a top Tripura government official told IANS.

The West Tripura District Magistrate and police are separately inquiring into the incident.

Ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist's State Secretary Bijan Dhar told the media that the officer should be punished if found guilty.

--IANS

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