At least 227 Brus, including 58 children, belonging to 44 families returned to Mizoram from Tripura on the third day of the sixth phase of repatriation today, state home department officials said.
190 people belonging to 36 families arrived at the Kanhmun facilitation centre while 37 people belonging to eight families arrived at the Zomuantlang facilitation till 4.30pm, Joint Secretary in the Home department Lalbiakzama said.
Those people who returned from relief camps in north Tripura district today were resettled in 13 villages of the Mizoram-Tripura-Bangladesh border Mamit district after being identified as bona fide residents of the state, he said.
Temporary shelters were erected for the repatriated families for which Rs 2,000 each was utilised for each family so that they would stay under a roof once they arrived at their respective villages, Lalbiakzama said.
Officials, quoting the repatriated Brus, said that they returned to Mizoram despite strong opposition as many anti-repatriation elements threatened and physically obstructed those who were willing to return.
"Many of them said that they had to hide in the jungle before leaving the relief camps and they could manage to bring bare minimum clothes and other things due to the problem being faced from their fellow inmates of the camps," officials said.
