GORKHA POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS: Jaswant meets Chidambaram for peace in Darjeeling – at last some positive action, a small but important step forward ?!!
Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh & P Chidambaram - old colleagues ?!! (File Photo)
FROM THE PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling Jaswant Singh today met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and appealed to him to ensure peace in the hilltown in wake of the killing of top Gorkha leader Madan Tamang.
“I have appealed to the Home Minister to ensure peace and law and order in Darjeeling. The GJM is for peace and tranquillity,” Singh told reporters after meeting Chidambaram.
Singh said he will visit Darjeeling tomorrow and attend a peace rally there.
On being questioned on allegations of involvement of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) for Tamang’s murder, Singh said the CBI could be asked to probe the incident.
“Let the CBI probe the murder and the truth will come out,” he said.
A Memorial at Gorkha Leader Madan Tamang's murder site - GJM, as the moral power in Darjeeling, to help in the murder investigation ?!! (Photo by Suman Tamang
BY VIVEK CHHETRI
Darjeeling, May 28: Sleuths probing the murder of ABGL chief Madan Tamang are relying on telephone numbers and video clippings to identify the killers.
Sources who are in the know of things maintained that the investigators started making headway after tracking down various mobile phone numbers.
They also said that a cellphone was also found at Clubside motor stand, the site where Tamang was hacked to death on May 21, but there was no confirmation from the investigators. “We are tracking a few numbers and the investigation is heading in the right direction,” a source added.
In fact, the CID team has already detained a dealer of a cellular service provider as some of the SIM cards had been issued from his shop. “The SIM cards seem to have changed hands and we are trying to verify who were using the cards,” an investigator said.
Apart from the SIM cards, police have also found a 32-inch long patang, a sharp weapon. The patang might not have been the murder weapon but investigators believe that they can locate the area where it was made. “Different places use different material, depending on the locally available resources, to make the handle of such weapons. The area where it has been made has more or less been identified,” said a source.
The police have also laid their hands on a video footage in which some of the members of the gang that had attacked Tamang can be seen. “We can see one of them chasing the ABGL supporters right till the end of the Clubside motor stand before retreating,” said an officer, refusing to reveal the source of the footage.
There are strong suggestions that the group might have come only to disrupt the ABGL meeting that Tamang was supposed to address. “Even though these people had an opportunity to assault other ABGL leaders, they did not. The leaders were seen running away. No one was hurt. The idea might have been to disrupt the meeting but on seeing Tamang rooted to his place someone might have hacked him,” a source said, claiming that it was purely his “personal view”. This, however, does not absolve the people of the murder charges, he added.
Investigators believe that they have “more or less” identified the group involved in the attack. However, they are trying to find out the masterminds of the crime.
“The CID is trying to gather as much evidence as possible before making any arrests,” said a source.
But amid the CID investigations, there has been a growing demand for a CBI probe into the murder.
Asok Bhattacharya (extreme left) on his way to Madan Tamang’s house - just paying respect or garnering 'anti-Gorkha' support ?!! (Photo Suman Tamang)
State urban development minister, who arrived in Darjeeling today to express his condolence to the late ABGL leader’s family, said he would convey the demand to the chief minister in deference to the “wishes of the hill people.”
Almost all the hill parties, including the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, whose members are widely believed to have carried out the murder, have demanded a CBI probe, expressing their lack of faith in the state controlled CID.
Bhattacharya, who visited Darjeeling after more than two years, said: “Since it is the hill people’s wish to involve the CBI in the investigations, I will convey the message to the chief minister.”
The CPM MLA from Siliguri also maintained that people in the hills wanted peace. “The people of the hills wish for peace and want the law and order machinery to function properly. I have also asked the police to maintain law and order,” said Bhattacharya, who had represented the state government along with health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra in the first round of political level talks on Darjeeling.
Bhattacharya said he had come to Darjeeling only to offer condolence to the bereaved family.
“I have not come to indulge in politics,” he said, adding that the party leaders would meet Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan when he returned to Darjeeling on June 2. The governor is in Goa now.
Mohan Sharma, the general secretary of the ABGL’s trade union, while demanding a CBI inquiry iterated that the lack of security had led to Tamang’s murder. “Had there been adequate protection, the incident would not have taken place. It is only obvious that doubts over the state’s role in failing to protect Madan Tamang arises,” said Sharma.
The ABGL has, however, decided to hold a condolence meeting at the site where Tamang was murdered at 10am tomorrow. “Leaders of other political parties especially the Democratic Front would also be present,” said Sharma. Tamang’s family member have already constructed a memorial at the site where Tamang was hacked.
Rally permission – thank you DM, “Peace at any cost” ?!!
The Morcha has been given permission to hold a public meeting at St Joseph’s School grounds on Sunday. Raju Pradhan, assistant secretary of the Morcha, said the venue of the meeting has been changed from motor stand to accommodate more supporters.
Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh, who said he would attend Sunday’s rally, today met Union home minister P. Chidambaram and appealed to him to ensure peace in the hill town in the wake of Tamang’s killing, reports PTI.
“I have appealed to the home minister to ensure peace and law and order in Darjeeling. The GJM (Morcha) is for peace and tranquillity,” Singh told reporters in Delhi after meeting Chidambaram.
Asked about the alleged Morcha role in Tamang’s murder, Singh said the CBI could be asked to probe.
“Let the CBI probe the murder and the truth will come out,” he said.
MEANWHILE
Asok promises CBI probe into Tamang killing – still ‘upto tricks’, with ‘anti-Gorkha’ activists: but naturally ?!!
Asok Bhattacharya - last hurrah, soon to lose all power after Municipality polls on May 30, 2010 ?!!
From The Statesman News Service
SILIGURI, 28 MAY (SNS): The state urban development minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya has assured the slain Gorkha League chief Madan Tamang’s family of raising their demand for a CBI probe into the assassination with the chief minister. (finally ?!!)
Mr Bhattacharya made the assurance, by visiting the bereaved family at their Gandhi Road residence in Darjeeling this morning. He was accompanied by the CPI-M Darjeeling Rajya Sabha MP Mr Saman Pathak and the party’s state committee member Mr Jibesh Sarkar.
Today’s was the urban development minister’s first Darjeeling visit in a year, after the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) barred the entry of state ministers’ to the Hills. Mr Bhattacharya had last visited Darjeeling in May 2009, during the Lok Sabha polls.
“The minister came to out residence at around 10:30 a.m. today and extended condolence to my mother and other family members. He also listened patiently to all our grievances against the local administration and assured placing our demand for a CBI probe to the chief minister by meeting him in Kolkata tomorrow itself,” informed the slain Gorkha League chief’s son Mr Sanjyog Tamang.
“I have asked the administration to stand by the Hills people, especially when they were raising voice against the GJMM atrocities,” he said. Towards afternoon, the Darjeeling district Left Front brought a protest rally in Siliguri, condemning the Maoist violence and the assassination of Madan Tamang, where Mr Bhattacharya also participated.
Meanwile, Lok Sabha member from Darjeeling Mr Jaswant Singh today met Union home minister Mr P Chidambaram and appealed to him to ensure peace in the hilltown in the wake Tamang’s killing.
“I have appealed to the Home Minister to ensure peace and law and order in Darjeeling. The GJM is for peace and tranquillity,” Mr Singh said. Mr Singh said he will visit Darjeeling tomorrow and attend a peace rally there.
AIGL, CPRM to launch stir – for more turmoil and ‘anti-Gorkha’ activities again and again, enough is enough ?!!
Apparently to counter the GJMM campaign denying its involvement in the Madan Tamang murder case, the AIGL and the CPRM are busy making groundwork to launch a movement once the mourning period for slain AIGL leader is over.
Confirming they would not sit idle in the changing political landscape in the Darjeeling hills, the leaders of the two parties said that the state government seemed to have bungled again with the situation, letting those allegedly involved in the butchery roam free.
(More posts only after BSNL gets their act together – still no connection, BSNL an important tool for playing Bengal’s snide politics – sever all communications, real Democratic to let the hills suffer ?!!)
News from Darjeeling, Dooars & Sikkim 
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