Tripura Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma to Sue Congress’s Sudip Roy Barman

Tripura Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma today said that he will file a defamation suit against veteran Tripura Congress leader and sitting MLA Sudip Roy Barman. He will file the suit in the next 48 hours for trying to tarnish his image by accusing him of indulging in corrupt practices and amassing wealth in a short period of time. The minister debunked all the accusations outright.

The controversy began last week during a session of the Tripura Legislative Assembly, when Roy Barman accused Debbarma of allegedly accumulating wealth for himself and his family members, including his wife and son, within a short period of little while serving as a Minister in the current Manik Saha cabinet.

In a subsequent press conference, Roy Barman alleged that Debbarma’s assets included a 3-BHK apartment in Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi, an under-construction house in Lambucherra, a house in Baramura foothills, both in Tripura, and an old house belonging to a renowned Agartala-based doctor, and two petrol pumps registered under his wife and son’s names, among other properties.

Roy Barman further expressed concerns about alleged corruption in a Rs 1,400 crore World Bank-funded project intended for the socio-economic development of Tripura’s tribal communities through the Tribal Welfare department.

Addressing the media today, Debbarma firmly denied the allegations and vowed to challenge Roy Barman in court.

“If Roy Barman can prove that I own the doctor’s house and my wife or son owns the petrol pumps in Teliamura and Behalabari, I will retire from politics. If he (Sudip Roy Barman) cannot prove that I have done something wrong, he must do the same,” Debbarma asserted.

Responding to reports regarding a boundary wall being built around his ancestral house at Krishnapur in Khowai district, which was allegedly constructed by Rural Development department at a cost of around Rs 10 lakh, with expenses borne by the state’s Tribal Welfare Department, Minister Debbarma said that the construction was done for his security purposes, and the full details regarding the expenses could be obtained from the department.

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