Guwahati, July 19: It was an ordinary day for Raju Das, a labourer from Rangutia village in Tripura’s West district. Hired to dig a fish pond on Dulal Nama’s private property, Raju expected nothing more than the usual toil.
But as his shovel hit something hard and metallic, he knew he had stumbled upon something extraordinary.
Raju carefully unearthed the object, revealing what appeared to be a mortar shell. Realizing the potential significance, he immediately informed Dulal Nama, who quickly halted the excavation and called the local authorities.
As news of the discovery spread, police and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel were dispatched to the site. Under the supervision of Anthony Jamatia, the officer-in-charge of the Bamutia outpost, the team began a meticulous excavation. To their astonishment, they unearthed a total of twenty-seven mortar shells, all fused together and buried for approximately 53 years.
The shells, believed to date back to the 1971 India-Pakistan war, bore no identifying marks, making it impossible to determine their country of origin or manufacturer. However, locals speculated that the Mukti Bahini fighters, the guerrilla force of Bangladesh, might have buried the shells in the area during the 1971 conflict. The Bamutia region, it turns out, had been a frequent training ground for these fighters.
Tripura, a significant player in the Bangladesh Liberation War, had provided refuge to 1.6 million East Pakistani refugees during the nine-month conflict, a number that exceeded its own population of 1.5 million at the time. This historic role has forged a lasting bond between Tripura and Bangladesh, who share an 856-kilometre international border comprising both land and riverine boundaries.
The discovery of the mortar shells serves as a poignant reminder of the region’s turbulent past and the enduring ties between India and Bangladesh.
