Agartala, 9 May : 40 militants belonging to the banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) laid down their arms and came back to normal life at two places in Tripura on Thursday.

The first surrender comprising of 35 cadres of the ATTF militants laid arms before Commandant of 14 Assam Rifles, Colonel Pratik Seth at Kanchanpur. The militants also handed over a SLR and 100 live cartridges.

Meanwhile, five militants of ATTF and NLFT deposited an AK 56, three magazines, 70 round ammunitions and a Chinese grenade to Commandant S Darlong of 6th battalion of Tripura State Rifles at Teliamura.

The militants informed that they had initially take gun to fight for a separate tribal homeland but on realizing that it is baseless they decided to come back to the main stream of life.

All the cadres have been trained in using the latest arms and ammunitions at their training camps spread through out Bangladesh, which surrounds Tripura from three sides, from there they operate, they informed. By Pinaki das