Khukuri attacker a woman

A woman had wielded the khukuri thrice at home guard Karuna Tigga, the injured law enforcer said today, recounting the events that led to the police firing at Sibchu in Jalpaiguri yesterday.

“Suddenly, some women grabbed me and dragged me into the crowd. My helmet slipped off my head and I fell in the confusion. A woman hit my head with a khukuri. She hacked me thrice and I heard the report of a shot being fired as I fell,” said Karuna, who was erroneously identified as Kalyani yesterday.

Lying in a bed at the district hospital here, a feeble Karuna said: “I have been posted either at Kumani or Sibchu ever since the Morcha set up camps there. There were other home guards and lady constables deployed in front of the community centre at Sibchu where hundreds of Morcha supporters had gathered shouting slogans.

“We, the women, formed the front of the police barricade as we were confronting mainly supporters of the Nari Morcha (the women’s wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha). I was wearing khaki and a helmet and carrying a lathi. Behind the women security ring were policemen and then CRPF personnel.”

She said tear-gas shells had been burst and Nari Morcha members on a hunger strike evicted from the community hall. “The senior officers were urging the demonstrators to disperse and we had once again come face to face with a group of protesters.”

After recounting the khukuri attack, Karuna, a mother of two, said: “I do not remember what took place after that. I woke up at the hospital in pain. However, I am feeling a little better today.”

The home guard job had passed on to Karuna four years ago from her father Shyamal Tigga who had died while in service. Her husband, Samsul Ekka, had died some years ago. “I have no one but my two children who are in hostel. My colleagues are looking after me in hospital,” said Karuna, who lives in a rented room in Panpara near here. According to officials, home guards with Karuna’s experience drew anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 a month.

Karuna’s 12-year-old daughter Deepika is a student of Class VI and stays in a tribal hostel in Nagrakata. Ten-year-old son Rohit Ekka studies in Class IX and stays in a similar facility in Banarhat.

Doctors said Karuna was out of danger. “She had received three injuries on the top of her head and on the back and the wounds were stitched,” said a doctor.

Karuna said what happened on Tuesday was not comparable to the small skirmishes she had come across in the past. “They were not like what I experienced yesterday. I do not know where I will be posted next but I will definitely report for duty during similar situations in future,” she said.

A senior police officer said home guards were trained in crowd control and baton charge. Asked why home guards, who were only allowed to wield lathis, had been deployed at Sibchu yesterday, the officer said: “Women home guards are also deputed to control law and order situations as they are counted as lady police in every police station they are posted.”

Source: The Telegraph