Cars burnt in Sikkim

Gangtok: Five persons have been arrested for setting fire to the cars of an MLA and a zilla adhyakshya at Sombaria on the eve of Republic Day.

The attacks are the latest in a series of arson-related incidents reported from West Sikkim over the past few days.

The district collector of West Sikkim, Nitesh Jha, confirmed the incident.

“The vehicles of Daramdin MLA R.B. Subba and West district zilla adhyakshya Chandra Maya Subba were set on fire on the night of January 25,” Jha told The Telegraph over telephone from Gyalshing, the West district headquarters.

Both leaders are from the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front.

On Friday, R.B. Subba had returned to his house at Rumbuk near Sombaria on his official vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio, which was later parked in a garage close to his home. However, according to police, the garage was not locked properly. The offenders set sacks and a tyre on fire and pushed them into the rear end of the vehicle inside the garage.

It was only after the spare tyre of the vehicle burst that an alarm was raised.

The details of the other incident, in which the private vehicle of Chandra Maya Subba was burnt down, are yet to emerge.

While the police refused to speak on the motives behind the attacks, observers believe political rivalry lies at the bottom of it.

The incidents come days after vehicles belonging to the regional outfit, Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad, were set on fire in the same district. The cars were burnt down on Gerethang-Yuksom Road and Yangthang-Tikjuk Road.

Following the spate of incidents, the district administration has called for Sikkim Armed Police to do additional patrolling in West Sikkim.

“The police are already working on the cases and additional forces from the Sikkim Armed Police have been engaged for patrolling duties,” said the district collector.