Agartala: Oct 27. In a strongly worded complaint addressed to the President of the Press Club of India, sitting MLA Ranjit Debbarma from 24-Ramchandraghat Assembly Constituency has alleged that journalist Pranab Sarkar, owner-cum-editor of Headlines Tripura National and current President of Agartala Press Club, deliberately broadcast “fake and fabricated news” linking him with Bangladesh citizenship.
According to the letter, the MLA Debbarma has requested “suitable early action” against Mr. Sarkar and his associates for “deliberate and intentional broadcasting of fake news” based on “fabricated documents, including a Bangladeshi Voter ID Card and Birth Certificate.” The complaint was sent to the Press Club of India, located at Raisina Road, New Delhi, detailing the alleged defamation and its impact on his public image.
The MLA wrote that on October 24, 2025, Headlines Tripura National began broadcasting reports highlighting he possessed Bangladeshi identification papers, which, he said, were “completely false and manufactured with malicious intent.”
“I have been born and brought up in Tripura and am purely an Indian by birth,” the MLA stated in the complaint, adding that he was “deeply shocked” by the publication of such “baseless and politically motivated allegations.”
He emphasized his Indian origin, detailing his early education at Chandpur S/B School and Agartala Netaji Higher Secondary School, followed by Bodhjung H/S School and Maharaja Bir Bikram College, Agartala. The MLA noted that his father’s name is Krishna Debbarma and mother’s name Madhumala Debbarma, rejecting the Bangladeshi documents that listed a different maternal name as “Sumita Debbarma.”
The MLA Debbarma also pointed out that the Election Commission of Tripura had verified his documents and found them “fit for candidature” before allowing him to contest the 2023 Tripura Assembly Election, which he subsequently won.
He alleged that Sarkar, being a senior journalist and local resident familiar with his background, acted “deliberately and intentionally” to malign his reputation and “destroy his bright political career.” The complaint further claims that a “group of conspirators” may have been involved in forging the Bangladeshi documents later used in the broadcast.
The MLA, who belongs to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, argued that the act amounts to a violation under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, as it “intentionally defames and tarnishes” his image.
“This sort of intentional broadcasting has destroyed my transparent personal image and bright political career,” the MLA wrote, urging the Press Club of India to intervene and take “early suitable action” against Sarkar and his associates.
