Over 5,000 teachers held in Tripura for violating prohibitory orders

More than 5,000 school teachers, who are facing termination on March 31 over a faulty recruitment policy, were arrested on Thursday for holding a mass demonstration here, in violation of the restrictions imposed under section 144 of CrPC, a police officer said.

The protesting teachers were, however, released after a few hours, he said.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped on parts of Tripura, including its capital city, to prevent mass gatherings, as part of the state government's precautionary measures against COVID-19.

An association of teachers that organised the protest before Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here said it has submitted a memorandum to Education Director UK Chakma, seeking the state's intervention for salvaging the situation.

"We have faith in the state government. We believe it can save our jobs by introducing Validation Act in the Assembly in the next 7 days. We have violated section 144 voluntarily as desperate times call for desperate measures," Arabinda Sharma, the president of the association, said.

Sadar Sub Divisional Police Officer Anirban Das said over 5,000 protesting teachers were arrested for illegal assembly outside Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan.

A total of 10,323 teachers, inducted in different phases since 2010, are set to be terminated after March 31, as their recruitment process has been termed faulty by the Supreme Court.