CID links accused to Gurung backyard - Morcha wants 'impartial probe' in 27th Mile arms recovery case

Bimal Gurung

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Dec. 17: The CID has said in its FIR that seven of the 14 people accused in the recovery of arms and documents, which call for a violent agitation to achieve Gorkhaland, from 27th Mile were staying at Darjeeling's Patlabas, the place of residence of GTA chief executive Bimal Gurung.

Asked about the police’s claim, Morcha assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai said: “Let police conduct the investigation. We just want an impartial probe and common people should not be harassed.”

Police sources told The Telegraph today that the FIR filed by a sub-inspector of the CID at the Ranglee-Rungliot police station had categorically stated that six of the seven accused who had stayed at Patlabas were residents of different parts of the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars. 

A rifle, 22 rounds of live ammunition and five leaflets of the Gorkhaland Liberation Army (GLA) had been recovered from an abandoned building in 27th Mile, 45km from here, on December 6. 

The FIR was filed on the same day. 

The FIR mentions that the accused — Raju Gurung, a resident of Kalchini (Dooars), Sher Singh Rai of Gorubathan, Milan Subba of Bhutabari busty at Lookson (Dooars) and Ram Singh Rai of Gorubathan —were “A/P”, meaning at present residing at Patlabas.

The CID in the FIR has not given the original addresses of two other accused, Manish Tamang and Mikki, but it has mentioned that they were “A/P” residing at Patlabas. 

Sanjeev Gurung was the seventh accused man to stay at Patlabas, which is on the outskirts of Darjeeling town. The FIR alleged that another consignment of arms brought to Darjeeling had been kept at his house. Those arms couldn’t be recovered.

The arms seizure at 27th Mile was made after interrogating Umesh Kami, 29, and Ganesh Chhetri, 53, who had been held from Chirang district of Assam with a huge cache of arms and ammunition on November 8. 

The names of both Kami and Ganesh Chhetri figure in the FIR filed at Ranglee-Rungliot police station. The FIR shows Kami as a resident of Lankapara, Birpara in Jalpaiguri district, and Ganesh Chhetri from Dhansripur in Assam’s Baksha. The duo are currently in police custody, while all other 12 accused are yet to be traced.  

Sanjay Thulung, an elected GTA Sabha member, and his brother Bijay Rai Thulung, who are among the accused, are residents of Glenburn, Takdah, but their present addresses were not mentioned in the FIR. 

The other three persons named in the FIR, Sanjay Chhetri, Rahul Chhetri and Diku Chhetri, have been stated as residents of Dimapur and members of militant outfit NSCN (Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim). 

The three Chhetris had allegedly supplied the weapons to Kami and Ganesh Chhetri. 

The leaflets in the name of the GLA allegedly call for an armed rebellion to achieve the separate state of Gorkhaland. 

“The police are trying to track a vehicle bearing registration number WB-74-V, 7116, which had been used to bring consignments of arms to Bengal,” said a CID source.

This vehicle is different from Tata Safari (WB-74, AE-4788), which was seized by Assam police when they arrested Kami and Ganesh Chhetri. 

On November 17, the police had allegedly conducted raids on the house of Jaspal Gazmer and Dinesh Theeng at Patlabas. The police had, however, claimed that they had only patrolled the area after receiving inputs that the elected GTA member, Sanjay Thulung, was present in the area. The names of Gazmer and Theeng, however, do not feature in the CID FIR. 

The CID said in the FIR that 15 members of the Gorkhaland Personnel, a voluntary force raised by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, had undertaken arms training from the NSCN in Nagaland last year. 

GTA Sabha member Sanjay Thulung was also accused of providing Rs 13.3 lakh to the NSCN to supply the arms. 

The Morcha has refused comment on the FIR in which the 14 accused are charged with various offences, including waging or attempting to wage war against the state and sedition.

The focus at the moment, according to the CID, is on the GLA, whose leadership is not yet known. The FIR states that a number of secret meetings were held and the accused were “working together under the leadership of Sanjay Thulung.” 

According to the FIR, the five seized leaflets read: “‘GLA is fighting to get Gorkhaland. Join GLA to fight to get Gorkhaland. We want Gorkhaland. We will fight till death. Join your hands. We want Gorkhaland. Join GLA in Arms Rebellion.”