Bimal alleges TMC tried to kill him....Gautam Deb says Darjeeling drama staged by GJMM itself

SNS, Darjeeling/Siliguri, 3 April 2014: The Chief of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM), Mr Bimal Gurung, today alleged that the Trinamul Congress sent a drug addict to kill him today.

As Mr Gurung started for Kalimpong on poll campaigning this morning, one vehicle coming from the opposite direction, which allegedly had a TMC flag on it, obstructed his convoy at Birchill, near the zoo, in Darjeeling. “A person in the vehicle had a gun, while my boys, along with my personal security officer (PSO), snatched the gun from him and handed it over to the Sadar police station," Mr Gurung said in Kalimpong as he addressed a public meeting at the Mela ground.

"This is a conspiracy to kill me and Appa Rajan is behind the act. This is a game played by the TMC, as it first stripped me of my security, and now this incident," he said. He was referring to the leader of the Hill TMC unit, Rajan Tamang. "The TMC wants to remove me so as to disband the GJMM, and eventually suppress the Gorkhaland movement," Mr Gurung said.

"The Mamata Banerjee government has tried to kill him today to suppress Gorkhaland movement," he alleged in Kalimpong.

However, North Bengal Development Minister Gautam Deb rubbished Mr Gurung’s allegations. “As the ground beneath Mr Gurung has now shifted, he is not mentally stable and is under lot of stress to fight the fast approaching election battle. Today’s incident in Darjeeling was a drama staged by the GJMM itself and the TMC is, in no way, involved in it,” he said in Siliguri.

Meanwhile in Darjeeling, two separate complaints were lodged with the police.

Darjeeling SP, Akhilesh Chaturvedi, confirmed that a case under the Arms Act has been filed and that one Dawa Lepcha has been detained as per an FIR lodged by Mr Gurung’s PSO.

Asked if there was any TMC flag on the vehicle, the SP said, "We have not received any such information, but if something of that sort comes, we will take action as per the election model code of conduct."

The BJP, whose Lok Sabha candidate SS Ahluwalia is being supported by the GJMM, demanded action on the matter. "In order to conduct free and fair election, arrests should be made and appropriate action taken," the BJP election agent, DK Pradhan, said.

TMC spokesperson in Darjeeling, Binny Sharma, denied the allegations against the party. "The PSO had taken the bag (from Lepcha), alright, but he handed it over to the police only half-an-hour later,” he said, indicating that the GJMM may have ‘tampered’ with the bag in between that time.