Agartala, June 19: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that the "deficit free budget" presented on Tuesday, his government's first, was intended to make the state "self-reliant".

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing financial aid to the state, Deb told the media on Tuesday night that the previous Left Front government always presented deficit budgets.

"Covering the previous Left Front government's budget deficit, our Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma today (Tuesday) tabled a budget in the house considering the interests of all section of people including tribals, scheduled caste, other backward community, youths, women and others," he said.

Deb said that the Prime Minister and Finance Minister helped the state by providing additional fund to implement the recommendation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission for the Tripura government employees and pensioners.

"The budget also allocated funds for upgradation of academic infrastructure. The previous Left Front government never wanted to make Tripura economically self-determining," said Deb, adding that the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led alliance government would fulfill the Prime Minister's promise to bring HIRA (Highway, Internet, Road, Airway) in Tripura.

Dev Varma, who also holds the finance portfolio, on Tuesday, presented a Rs 16,387.21 crore tax-free, zero-deficit budget for financial year 2018-19.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested five of a family for allegedly assaulting a police officer and snatching his service pistol during a raid in the Sultanpuri area, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused are Rajender (50), his sons Ritik (24), Sachin (29), Abhishek (26), and his daughter Komal (22). 

The incident occurred on September 2, when a team from the Anti-Narcotics Task Force arrested Alka, wife of Rajender, for possession of heroin, police said.

During the raid, Alka's family members attacked a police officer with sticks and bricks and snatched his service pistol, mobile phone, and wallet. However, the officer managed to recover his service pistol, they said.

Police said that an FIR was registered and an investigation was launched.

Acting on a tip-off, police arrested the accused, absconding since the incident, from a flat in Raghubir Nagar in Delhi.