Kadamtala, Tripura – The night of October 6, 2024, took a tragic turn in Kadamtala, North Tripura, when a violent mob rampaged through the market, leaving behind devastation and loss. Shahin Ahmed, 38, will never forget the last conversation he had with his brother, Alfeshani Ahmed, 36, as gunshots and screams echoed in the background. Alfeshani, a shop owner in the Kadamtala market, was attempting to flee the escalating violence when he was fatally shot.
At around 9 p.m. on October 6, Alfeshani had hurriedly closed his smartphone and electronic accessories store, knowing his shop was at risk of being targeted by the mob. He grabbed only the financial ledger containing his shop’s records before heading home to Jher Jheri, a Muslim-majority village three kilometers away. “He left everything behind except the ledger,” Shahin recalled. “He knew the mob was coming.”
Earlier in the day, tensions had flared between local Hindus and Muslims after a Muslim driver was reportedly assaulted by members of a Hindu club in the area. The driver had refused to pay a subscription fee for Durga Puja, a major Hindu festival. This incident, along with allegations of further violence, sparked clashes between the two communities in Kadamtala, which has a mixed population of Hindus (64%) and Muslims (35%).
By the evening, the situation had escalated into a full-blown riot, with both groups clashing violently. The police responded with baton charges and reportedly opened fire to control the mob. Seventeen people were injured, mostly police personnel, and one person was killed—Alfeshani.
“I was on the phone with him when the bullet hit him in the head,” Shahin Ahmed told Al Jazeera. However, the police have denied targeting anyone specifically, with Bhanupada Chakraborty, then-Superintendent of Police for North Tripura, claiming that Alfeshani’s death is under investigation.
Alfeshani’s family disputes the police version. “He was shot in the head by the police,” his mother, Alifjaan Begum, said, her voice trembling with grief. “It was murder.”
The violence in Kadamtala continued to unfold in the following days. On October 7, Hindu mobs, reportedly affiliated with the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, gathered in the area, allegedly burning and looting Muslim-owned businesses. Suhail Ahmed Khan, a local shop owner, found his electronic goods store reduced to ashes. “Over 57 lakh rupees ($67,550) went up in flames. It’s as if my life has ended,” Khan said, devastated by the loss.
The Kadamtala Jama mosque, a symbol of the local Muslim community, was also set on fire. Abdul Motin, an adviser to the mosque committee, confirmed that religious texts were destroyed in the blaze. “They burned everything,” Motin said.
In the Saraspur neighborhood, located at the outskirts of Kadamtala, several Muslim homes were also torched. Islam Uddin, a local resident, recounted how his family had to flee their burning house. “We lost everything,” he said, as he began rebuilding his home. His neighbor, Atarun Nessa, who also lost her home in the fire, now relies on charity for survival. “Our e-rickshaw was burned. It was the only way we could make a living,” she said, breaking down in tears.
Witnesses claimed that the police stood by as the Hindu mob carried out the attacks. Some locals alleged that the police allowed the violence to unfold, with accusations of bias. “If they wanted, they could have stopped the mob,” said Islam Uddin, a local legislator from the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Opposition leader Sudip Roy Barman also labeled the violence as “state-sponsored,” blaming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for inciting tensions.
In response to these allegations, Chakraborty, the district’s police superintendent, told Al Jazeera, “I am not the right person to speak with the press.” Attempts to reach Tripura’s police chief, Amitabh Ranjan, for comment went unanswered.
The violence in Kadamtala is part of a broader trend of inter-religious conflict in Tripura, with tensions rising between Hindu and Muslim communities in recent months. Similar clashes occurred in August and October, fueled by allegations that Muslims had defaced Hindu deities in Bangladesh, prompting retaliatory attacks on Muslim mosques and homes in Tripura.
For Sultan Ahmed, a Tripura-based activist, the recent violence in Kadamtala recalls the horrors of the 2021 riots in which large Hindu mobs attacked Muslim homes and mosques. “Muslims in Tripura still live in fear of what happened then,” he said.
Historically, Tripura had not witnessed significant religious violence, but since the rise of the BJP in 2018, tensions have been exacerbated, with several incidents of communal violence. According to Uddin, the Communist Party legislator, right-wing groups have stoked communal sentiments in recent years, leading to an increase in violent clashes.
Subrata Chakraborty, a spokesperson for the BJP in Tripura, denied any preferential treatment for religious groups under the current government. “This government is proactive and pro-development,” he said.
However, for many in Kadamtala, the damage to communal harmony may be irreversible. “Muslims, who make up 70% of the customers in the market, now refuse to buy from Hindu shops,” Khan, whose shop was destroyed, said. “It will take years, if ever, for the harmony to return.”
The violence in Kadamtala also marks a shift in the local atmosphere. Abdul Haque, a former BJP member, noted that in the past, Hindus would ensure that loudspeakers during festivals did not disturb Muslims. “Now, they play provocative songs at high volumes,” he said. “Hindus have changed here.”
