DARJEELING is staring at a law and order problem with Nicole Tamang, the main accused in the murder of Madan Tamang, the president of All India Gorkha League (AIGL), escaping from CID custody at Pintel village near Siliguri on Sunday. While two police officers have been suspended in this connection, Bharati Tamang, wife of the slain leader, has demanded that the investigation pertaining to the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Bharati and some top AIGL leaders have been camping in Delhi, meeting Union ministers to push for more arrests in the case. The AIGL team has met Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Law Minister Veerappa Moily. “The government of West Bengal has conspired with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and made it possible for the accused to escape from the custody of CID. We appeal to you to hand over the case to the CBI as we have lost all faith in the West Bengal government,” she has said in a letter to Chidambaram.
The GJM, on the other hand, has alleged that Nicole died of torture and his body was cremated clandestinely. It has called for an indefinite strike demanding that Tamang be produced alive within 24 hours. “Nicole was sick and we suspect he has fallen victim to excessive torture by the CID. The state government is hiding his body. We demand that he be produced within 24 hours or we will go for a bigger strike,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, GJM spokesperson. He added that he was going to write to Chidambaram and the National Human Rights Commission chairman regarding the issue. GJM posters dotting the hills have also threatened that AIGL leaders Bharati Tamang, Pratap Khati will not be allowed to enter the area.
“Bimal Gurung is not the zamindar of Darjeeling. It is a democratic country and everybody has the right to go anywhere,” Khati told The Indian Express reacting to the posters.
The AIGL has criticised the state government for its laxity in making arrests in the case and connected this to the secretarial-level tripartite talks held between the Centre, state government and the GJM on August 17. “Three things have happened simultaneously: withdrawal of CRPF forces from Darjeeling, announcement of Bimal Gurung dropping Siliguri and Dooars from his demand, and escape of Nicole from CID custody. This smacks of conspiracy of the Bengal government,” said Bharati’s letter.
Nicole was arrested on August 16, a day ahead of the talks, and there were fears that he would be used as a bargaining chip to persuade the GJM to agree on certain points.
“Nicole was kept at Pratap Nagar police station and on Saturday taken to Pintel village. What is intriguing is the fact that on that very day four policemen were allowed to go on leave. Nicole went to the bathroom at 3 am and never returned. But according to the CID at 6:30 am he was found missing,” said a source in Darjeeling.
The AIGL has called for a 24-hour bandh on Monday and its leaders have said that the GJM’s call for bandh was aimed at thwarting theirs.
“We will take steps according to the developments,” assured state DGP Bhupinder Singh. Regarding the withdrawal of two companies of the CRPF, he said, “What do you do if the Centre takes such a decision?”
Source: ENS
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