Gorkhaland: Home-guard set on fire, GJM supporter killed

Darjeeling: A home-guard was set on fire and a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha trade union leader was found murdered in Darjeeling on Friday amidst incidents of arson on the eve of the indefinite bandh called in the hills to demand Gorkhaland state on the lines of Telangana.The home-guard was set on fire at Prakriyathong by "miscreants" and was hospitalised, police said. Suraj Tamang, a GJM trade union leader was found murdered at Hebong, about 8 km from Darjeeling. Police said the body of Mr Tamang had many wounds and he was probably killed on Thursday night. The exact cause of death would be ascertained after the postmortem examination. 

The GJM leadership claimed that he was killed by the Trinamool Congress. A forest bungalow at Takdha, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had put up during a visit to Darjeeling on January 9 this year, was burnt down on Thursday. A truck and an SUV were also torched at Mongpo, while disused police booths at Ranglirangliyat and Rangamancha were set ablaze, police said. GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, who left for Delhi at the head of a six-member team, told reporters before his departure that GJM was not responsible for the incidents of arson and put the blame on opposition parties in the hills. 

He said that the indefinite bandh could be relaxed for a day or two for which GJM president Bimal Gurung would be consulted. Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal said that one company of the CRPF arrived on Thursday and four more companies would arrive in the hills. Besides the CRPF, there were two companies of the Indian Reserve Force, five companies of the riot police and seven companies of the Rapid Action Force stationed in the hills. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress alleged that the Centre 'instigated' trouble in Darjeeling following the decision to create a Telangana state and reiterated that there was no question of division of West Bengal.

 "The Centre is instigating it for political purpose which is unfair and unethical," Trinamool Congress General Secretary Mukul Roy told reporters in Siliguri. "Darjeeling is part and parcel of West Bengal. There is no question of division of Bengal. This is the stand of the party as well as of the state government," Mr Roy, a close aide of the Trinamool Congress supremo, said. Congress has denied that the Centre provided any instigation in the hills and the TMC was accusing it as it could not manage the situation now.