29 Chhattisgarh-bound Tripura troopers injured in accident

Twenty nine troopers of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) bound for poll-related duties in Chhatisgarh have been injured after their bus fell into a deep gorge, police said here on Tuesday.

The bus rolled down into an approximately 250 feet deep gorge at the Baramura hill ranges in Tripura while negotiating a sharp turn.

"Around 800 TSR jawans, including the 29 troopers, were headed to Agartala in different vehicles to board a Chhatisgarh-bound train

"All the 29 injured, including three critical ones, have been shifted to the (government-run) Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital here for treatment," the police officer said.

Two of the three critically wounded were being referred to Kolkata on Tuesday for better treatment.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb along with others have visited the hospital where the troopers were rushed to.

The 90-seat Chhattisgarh assembly elections would be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.

The TSR were earlier sent to Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Nagaland and Mizoram on poll security duties.

The TSR battalions, trained in anti-insurgency operations, were constituted in March 1984 to deal with terrorism. It is modelled on the pattern of Border Security Force and Assam Rifles. -IANS