Five GJM men held for Tamang's murder

Deep Gazmer, TNN | Feb 16, 2013: DARJEELING: After a two-year lull, the CBI on Friday arrested five Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders in connection with the brutal murder of Madan Tamang on May 21, 2010. 

All five had been named in the chargesheet but were roaming free for two and a half years before the central agency swooped in on them in a pre-dawn raid, apparently to stop them from escaping. This is the first arrest in the case since Dipen Malay was nabbed on May 25, 2011 - five days after Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as chief minister. Malay is now on bail and is a member of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. 

Former municipality vice-chairman Dinesh Gurung is among those arrested. The others are Gorkha Janmukti Yuwa Morcha (GJYM) president Aloke Kantmani Thulung and secretary Puran Thami, Gorkha Janmukti Vidhyarthi Morcha (GJVM) president Kismat Chhetri and general secretary Keshavraj Pokhrel. The CBI and police refused to say why the five had not been arrested since the chargesheet was filed in August 2010. 

Sources said that the arrest was made on an exact tip-off on the whereabouts of the accused. The CBI's report, placed in court, says that they were picked up from the taxi stand at Darjeeling railway station at 5am when they were trying to board a vehicle to leave the hill town, said assistant public prosecutor Pankaj Prasad. They were kept in Darjeeling circuit house for more than four hours before being produced in the chief judicial magistrate's court. The CBI sought seven days' remand but the court denied it and instead sent the accused to judicial custody till February 28. 

They have been booked for murder, rioting, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy, apart from other charges. Tamang, the then All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president, had been murdered in front of hundreds of people at the Darjeeling Mall. League general secretary Pratap Khati on Friday refused to give the five arrests much importance and demanded that Morcha president Bimal Gurung be nabbed. 

"All this is an eye wash. Everyone was aware of the whereabouts of the five. We stick to our demand that the masterminds - namely the GJM president and six central committee leaders - be arrested. In fact, there is circumstantial evidence against Gurung and GJM general secretary Roshan Giri," he said. He drew a parallel with the conviction and execution of the Parliament attack mastermind Afzal Guru. 

"Guru was not present during the Parliament blast but was still hanged because he provided logistic support to the actual culprits. In the same way Gurung and Giri conspired our leader's murder and there is voice transcript proof with the investigating agency," claimed Khati. 

Fourteen people have now been arrested for the murder. Nine others, including a woman, are on bail while the prime accused, GJM central committee leader Nicole Tamang, is on the run after escaping from CID custody on August 22, 2010. Nicole's wife then filed a petition in Calcutta high court seeking CBI inquiry. 

The CID had named 30 Morcha leaders and supporters in the chargesheet of whom 16 are absconding. The Morcha leadership was tightlipped on Friday's arrests. Party assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai said: "We will not comment as the matter is sub judice. All we can say is that the law will take its course." 

Madan Tamang murder: Five accused held 

SNS, DARJEELING, 15 FEB: Over two years after All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang was hacked to death in broad daylight, the CBI, the Central investigative agency entrusted with the murder case by the previous Left Front government after it was transferred from the CID, rounded up five accused whose names featured in the CBI charge-sheet in a pre-dawn swoop from near the Darjeeling Railway station today (sns photo). All the accused are learnt to be holding important posts in several affiliates of the GJMM when the crime was committed. 

Among those arrested are former Darjeeling town committee president Dinesh Gurung, former youth wing president Alok Kantamani Thulung and former student wing president Kismat Chhetri. The other two are student leader Keshav Pokharel and youth leader Puran Thami. 

The accused were produced before the Darjeeling Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court today. Their hearing will be again held on 28 February. Additional Public Prosecutor Mr Pankaj Prasad said: “The CBI had come to know about their whereabouts recently. Their names featured in the charge-sheet filed by the CBI. They were absconding. The CBI had pleaded for seven days’ police remand for the arrested, but the court rejected the plea on the ground that the probe is on. 

The court also rejected the bail plea for the arrested. They have been sent to the judicial court and would be produced at the CJM court on 28 February.” He also said 30 people among the accused mentioned in the FIR lodged by the AIGL immediately after the murder have featured in the charge-sheet filed by the CBI. 

Madan Tamang was murdered in the Upper Club area in Darjeeling town on 21 May 2010. Ten among the 30 people whose names featured in the charge-sheet were arrested. Later, one of them, Nicole Tamang ~ the prime accused ~ fled from Pintail village near Sunkna on 22 August 2010 while in CID custody. 

The CBI later took over the murder probe at the behest of the state government. Nicole has remained elusive till date, though the CBI probe team claimed in its submission to the court in 2011 that he had been spotted somewhere in Nepal. 

Later one of the accused was found murdered. Even as the probe was going on, another accused, Subhash Tamang, got bail and two others, Mr Prashant Chettri and Mr Babita Ganguly were acquitted. The Divisional Bench of Calcutta High Court gave bail to six others who had been arrested in connection with the murder last year. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met AIGL president Bharati Tamang, the widow of the slain leader, on 6 February in Kolkata. Mrs Tamang is supposed to have appealed to Miss Banerjee to ensure that the state government cooperates with the CBI in tracking down the culprits involved in the crime. 

IE, Kolkata, Sat Feb 16 2013: The CBI today arrested five persons accused in the murder of former All-India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang. 

All five are senior leaders of the Yuva Morcha (youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) and occupy important positions in the organisation. According to CBI sources, they were arrested from a taxi stand in front of the Darjeeling railway station at 5.05 am. 

They include Dinesh Gurung, former vice-chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality and a prominent Morcha leader; Alok Kanta Mani Thulung, president of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha; Puran Thami, former general secretary of the GJM Darjeeling subdivisional committee and a prominent youth leader; Kismet Chettri, president of the Gorkha Janmukti Vidhyarthi Morcha (GJVM — student's wing); and Keshav Raj Pokhrel, general secretary of the GJVM. The five were produced in court, which remanded them in judicial custody. 

"We need to interrogate them. We pleaded for police custody, but the court gave them judicial remand. We will again plead for police custody tomorrow," said a senior police official. Although the CBI claimed it had picked up the five persons, it was learnt that the Morcha leaders surrendered before the CBI today. They were apparently directed to do so by the Morcha leadership. 

On August 27, 2011, the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet in connection with the case naming GJM youth leader Dipen Maley, who was arrested on May 25, 2011. Madan Tamang was killed in broad daylight in the heart of Darjeeling on May 21, 2010.