Tripura protest demands action against Bangladesh’s PCJSS Santu group
INTERNATIONAL DESK, PARBATTA NEWS
Hundreds have marched in Tripura, India, calling for the arrest and expulsion of members of the Bangladesh-based armed group Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, known as PCJSS Santu, over allegations of drug trafficking and anti-India activities.
Indian media report it is the first organised protest in the country against an armed group from a neighbouring state.
The protest, held on 30 July in Natun Bazar, South Tripura, brought together both tribal and non-tribal residents. Demonstrators submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, urging authorities to detain PCJSS members, send them back to Bangladesh, and ban the group in India.
PCJSS Santu, led by Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma – also known as Santu Larma – is accused of smuggling narcotics into India, killing people in Bangladesh before taking refuge in India, and creating the Tripura United National Front to carry out anti-India activities.
Protesters said that since a peace accord with Dhaka in 1997, Santu Larma has remained chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council while retaining his armed wing. They also accused the group of killing tribal leaders including Rupak Chakma, Mithun Chakma, Sudirgho Chakma, Chandra Shekhar Chakma, Animesh Chakma, Bipul Chakma and Sunil Tripura, and of continuing abduction, extortion and unlawful killings.
The group’s cadres are also alleged to be involved in arms, yaba tablet, Burmese cigarette and cattle smuggling.
The memorandum cited incidents including the recovery of 2,720 Burmese cigarettes worth Tk 900,000 from Raishyabari, Dhalai, in December 2024; a June 2025 seizure by Assam Rifles of drugs worth Tk 1 billion in Lunglei, Mizoram; the February 2025 recovery by Mizoram Police of two AK-47 rifles, five US-made M4 carbines, 20 magazines and 4,675 rounds of ammunition; and the June 2025 arrest and repatriation to Bangladesh of 13 alleged cadres by Tripura Police.
Protesters claimed PCJSS has become an international smuggling network operating from Tripura and Mizoram. They named senior members including Field Commander Pranati Bikash Chakma, Deputy Field Commander Ayushman Chakma Bulbul, Political Secretary Satyabir Dewan, Organising Secretary Kumar Chakma, Bhavadutta Chakma, Abakash Larma, Usha Bindu Khisa, Ashapurna Chakma and Somaj Priya Chakma.
They further alleged that during the tenure of Dr Muhammad Yunus, and under the direction of Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Santu Larma established TUNF as an anti-India platform. Members of the Reang community in Mizoram and Tripura were reportedly recruited to assist ISI operations in Northeast India.
According to protesters, PCJSS cadres have spread fear among local tribal residents in Tripura through abduction, torture, extrajudicial killings, extortion and cross-border smuggling. They ended the demonstration with demands for the arrest of PCJSS members, their return to Bangladesh, and a formal ban on the organisation in India.
