Rape accused Tripura official held in Assam

Agartala: A senior Agartala government officer, missing and on the run for a fortnight after rape accusation, was arrested on Tuesday in neighbouring Assam`s Karimganj, police said.

"Acting on a tip-off, a Tripura Police team went to Karimganj town and arrested Panna Ahmed, 44, from a house there. He will be brought here and presented in a court for seeking his police custody," West Tripura district police chief Abhijit Saptarshi told reporters.

The Tripura government suspended Ahmed, who was a sub-divisional magistrate in Sonamura sub-division of Sepahijala district.

"The state government had recently requested the Union Home Ministry for issuance of a red corner notice to track the official," Saptarshi said.

Opposition Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress have been holding protest demonstrations at Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar`s official residence and other places in the state almost daily since June 27.

A Muslim woman filed an FIR with the West Agartala police station here on June 27 that Ahmed, a state civil service official, called her to his private residence here and raped her.

"After getting report from the District Magistrate and police, the Chief Minister ordered Ahmed`s suspension," a top Tripura government official told IANS.

The West Tripura District Magistrate and police are separately inquiring into the incident.

Ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist`s State Secretary Bijan Dhar told the media that the officer should be punished if found guilty.