Agartala, March 31 (IANS) Separatist tribal guerrillas gunned down a tribal leader even as 12 militants surrendered to security forces in Tripura, officials said here Monday. A police spokesman said heavily armed militants of the outlawed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) shot dead Sunil Debbarma, 30, at Sidhai in west Tripura late Sunday.

Debbarma, a tribal leader, was vocal against the tribal militancy.

Meanwhile, 12 National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants led by their self-styled area commander Narahari Jamatia surrendered before authorities of the Assam Rifles Sunday at Kanchanpur, 145 km north of here.

“The ultras could not deposit any arms as they fled from their Bangladeshi hideouts few days back without any arms,” said Bikramjit, an Assam Rifles commander.

The rebels were aged between 22 to 35 years and took arms training in their hideouts at the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeast Bangladesh.