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Cop killed in gunbattle during operation to nab Bimal Gurung near Sikkim...GJM claims of planting arms by police

Cop killed in gunbattle during operation to nab Bimal Gurung near Sikkim...GJM claims of planting arms by police

TNN | Oct 14, 2017, DARJEELING: A sub-inspector was killed and four policemen were injured in a gunbattle during a pre-dawn operation to net fugitive Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Bimal Gurung near the Bengal-Sikkim border on Friday. A large cache of arms and ammunition — including assault rifles, over 1,000 detonators and gelatin sticks — was recovered from the encounter site, around 27km from Darjeeling town. Though Gurung managed to give cops the slip, police have launched a manhunt along the belt.
The development pushes Darjeeling into a fresh spell of uncertainty and casts a shadow on Monday's third round of bilateral talks at Nabanna.
Senior police officers said a search party of over 100 cops led by the Darjeeling DSP (HQ) and commanding officer of the 10th battalion of the Reserve Force left Darjeeling Sadar police station around 1 am on Friday following intelligence inputs on Gurung's movements along with cadres of Gorkhaland Personnel (GLP), an armed group looking after his security.
Believed to be in hiding in Sikkim after being slapped with three UAPA cases, Gurung, the cops learnt, was attempting to cross the Rangit river.
The team travelled to Singmari, Patlebas and downhill towards Tukvar, 16km from Darjeeling town. Thereafter, they abandoned their vehicles and trekked downhill before splitting into 10 teams to comb the forested areas near Barnesbeg and Singla tea estates.
"It took the police teams an hour and a half to reach the river bed. That is when the indiscriminate firing began," a senior officer present during the operation told TOI.
Caught on an open river bed with no cover, five cops were struck by bullets before they could respond. ASI Amitava Malik died on the spot. The cops retaliated after the initial setback and the exchange of fire continued for 15 minutes before the attackers, allegedly GLP cadres, retreated into the forested area beyond the river.
Darjeeling SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi said the men were heavily armed with automatic weapons and didn't hesitate to fire on the cops. "This indicates Gurung was at the spot and needed the fire cover to flee. But with cops surrounding the area, we believe he did not manage to escape to Sikkim. We have found bloodstains on the other bank of Rangit," he said.
Kurseong Police claimed to have foiled a major attack on their force on Friday after raiding a GLP hideout at Pedong jungle that was being used by Gurung and his men to move between Darjeeling and Sikkim. Explosives, electrical detonators, pipe bombs and bore guns were recovered here.

Later at night, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri in a statement said the police witch-hunt against Gurung was unwarranted and accused the Bengal government of trying to "derail" the talks that Union home minister Rajnath Singh had promised the party chief. The GJM also claimed that the the seized arms and ammunition may have been planted by police to tarnish its image and brand the party a militant organization. "We demand a high-level judicial inquiry or NIA probe into the incident," said Giri.
GJM also claimed three of its supporters were killed in police firing, but the police did not confirm it. 
"The arms and ammunition we recovered clearly shows that they were smuggled from the northeast. One person has been arrested and he is cooperating with the investigation," Chaturvedi said.
The cops also said they managed to nab four GJM sympathizers of Friday, but one of Gurung's trusted aides — his relative and former GTA member Dawa Lepcha — managed to flee. Lepcha was earlier instrumental in escorting Gurung to safety when CID and Darjeeling Police raided Namchi in Sikkim over a month ago.
At the state secretariat, additional director general of police (law and order) Anuj Sharma said the police team had specific information on Gurung's plan to stoke trouble in the Hills. "We know he has instructed his cadres to attack cops and create trouble in Darjeeling afresh for his own personal gain. He (Gurung) has links with Maoists and northeast insurgent groups," Sharma said.
(Source & Courtesy: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/cop-killed-in-gunbattle-during-op-to-nab-gurung-near-sikkim/articleshow/61075167.cms)

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