An Agartala Court released the 23-member team of poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) on unconditional bail with a Rs 10,000 bond per person, on Thursday, 29 July, reported ANI, quoting Advocate PK Biswas.
The team, sent by the Trinamool Congress Party, was detained by the police at Agartala’s Hotel Woodland Park on Monday, 26 July. The submission made by the public prosecutor was also rejected by the court.
Meanwhile, TMC MP Derek O’ Brien arrived in Tripura earlier on Thursday morning, 29 July.
He was quoted as saying, "Modi and Shah, not in Tripura but across the country, inside Parliament, outside Parliament, they are everywhere. They have got thrashed in West Bengal. They spent so much money there, where they were just like daily passengers. They used CBI, ED, and all the agencies," ANI reported.
"They know that Mamata's Trinamool Congress is ready to take them on, beyond Bengal. This is the only kind of antics they (Modi-Shah) know, threatening and bullying. But we will take them on, head to head."TMC MP Derek O’ Brien, as quoted by ANI.
What Happened on Monday?
The I-PAC team members were held at Hotel Woodland Park in capital Agartala, and were interrogated and warned by the police not to leave the hotel except for going to the airport to leave the state, sources cited by news agency ANI had said on Monday.
Sources claimed that one of the members of the team had been summoned to a police station on the morning of Monday and told that it would be best if they were to leave.
Later that afternoon, police called a medical team to the hotel to conduct RT-PCR tests for all the team members.
Late on Monday, West Tripura SP Manik Das was quoted as saying by ANI, "The results of their (I-PAC members) RT-PCR test will come tomorrow. They said they were here for some research-related work that is being investigated. After getting the COVID test results and outcome of the probe, a decision will be taken on their release."
In order to strengthen its base in Tripura for Assembly elections in 2023, the TMC had recently appointed Ashish Lal Singh as the party president in the state. Singh is also the son of Sachindra Lal Singh, the first chief minister of Tripura.
He had said in a tweet on Monday, "They (BJP) are so rattled by our victory in Bengal that they've now kept 23 I-PAC employees under house arrest. Democracy in this nation dies a thousand deaths under BJP's misrule!"
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