Nine college students arrested after overnight vandalism spree in Agartala, sent to 7-day judicial custody

Residents of Tripura woke up on Sunday morning to shocking visuals circulating on social media, showing a group of youths vandalising government property across several areas of Agartala, including Ghurkhabasti, Shalbagan, and Shyamalibazar.

In the viral videos, motorbike-borne youths were seen destroying traffic signals, mirrors, speed-awareness messages, government posters, and flex boards.

Police sources confirmed that the incident took place around midnight on November 29, when the group went on a violent rampage, damaging public property along their route. Some members of the group also recorded the acts and uploaded the videos on social media, where they quickly went viral.

Following the incident, a Traffic Police Inspector filed an FIR at the New Capital Complex (NCC) Police Station on Sunday morning, stating that government property worth lakhs of rupees had been destroyed.

Acting swiftly, the police began verifying the viral videos and CCTV footage from various locations. They managed to identify nine accused youths and subsequently arrested them.

New Capital Complex SDPO Subrata Barman stated that the youths moved through multiple locations in the city, tearing down flags, banners, festoons, traffic signals, and awareness signboards. They also uprooted glow signboards and allegedly stole kilometre indicator boards, leaving several parts of the city’s traffic infrastructure in disarray.

“The nine youths have admitted that they carried out the vandalism while under the influence of alcohol,” said SDPO Barman. He added that authorities are assessing the extent of the damage and will take further legal steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

Police registered a case in connection with the incident, while the Tripura Traffic Unit filed a separate complaint. The accused were produced before a local court on Sunday afternoon, where the police sought three days of remand for further interrogation to determine their motive.

Investigations revealed that all nine accused are college students who were returning home after attending a programme on the night of November 29.

However, the district court rejected the police remand plea and sent the accused to seven days of judicial custody until December 6.

Government advocate Dilip Debnath said that after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense, the court ordered seven days of jail custody for all nine accused. The court also directed that the Investigating Officer may interrogate them inside the jail premises if required.