Gorkha leader link in arms arrest

The two accused and the Bengal-bound consignment of arms seized in Chirang district in Assam
on Saturday

TEJESH KUMAR AND VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 10 November 2014: One of the two persons arrested in Assam while carrying firearms and ammunition to Bengal has said he was taking the consignment for “a Gorkha political leader of Darjeeling”, according to Assam police.

A police source in Assam said Ganesh Chhetri, who is a member of a militant outfit called the United Gorkha People’s Organisation (UGPO) in that state, told his interrogators that he was “carrying the consignment for a Gorkha political leader of Darjeeling district in lieu of money”. That part is now being looked into by Bengal police, the Assam police source said.

The source refused to disclose the name of the Gorkha political leader.

Last night, Darjeeling police raided the home of GTA elected member Sanjay Thulung, who is the vice-president of the Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha. Thulung is absconding. His family was detained and questioned last night and released.

Darjeeling police superintendent Akhilesh Chaturvedi, asked if the arms were meant for any organisation in the hills, said: “I cannot comment now.”

Umesh Kami of Darjeeling and Chhetri, who is from Baksa in Assam, were arrested on Saturday after a search of their Tata Safari yielded an M16 rifle, two Baretta pistols, three .32 bore pistols, 300 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 80 rounds of ammunition of AK-series rifles, 198 rounds of M16 ammunition and 60 rounds of .32 ammunition.

The two were held in Chirang district in lower Assam. Today, they were remanded in five days’ judicial custody.

The police sources in Assam said that Chhetri was a leader of the UGPO, which is based in Assam. The source said the cadres of the outfit had received arms training from NSCN militants.

The source said Chhetri’s involvement with some nascent outfits in Darjeeling came out light when he was interrogated by a Bengal police team that reached Assam yesterday.

The duo are being questioned in Dhaligaon police station in Chirang district.

The UGPO was formed in 2007 by a group of 20 to 25 Gorkha youths in western Assam’s Baksa to supposedly protect the Gorkha people living in Bodoland Territorial Area District from attacks by militants.

“The UGPO failed to organise in the region as they didn’t get much support from their own community but they managed to establish links with some Gorkha political leaders in Darjeeling and got moral support from them,” the police source said.

According to the source, Chhetri, who hails from Baksa district, has been associated with various Gorkha organisations in Assam as well as in neighbouring states for the past several years.

In Darjeeling today, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha refused to give a reaction on the raid at Thulung’s home last night.

Jyoti Kumar Rai, the assistant secretary of the Morcha said: “There is nothing much to comment. It is the police’s duty to conduct raids and they are probably doing so on some information to which we have nothing to say.”

Asked about the party’s stand if Thulung is implicated in the Assam case, Rai said: “I don’t think there are links as he comes across as a decent man. The party will decide depending on the development.”

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said in the evening: “We will not react today but at a later stage, probably tomorrow.”

Police have seized Thulung’s vehicle, a white Bolero bearing registration number WB-77 A-0333. Thulung, who is in his mid-30s, is among the youngest leaders to be elected to the GTA on a Morcha ticket.

He was one of the many Morcha leaders to have won uncontested from his constituency, Glenburn in Kurseong, during the GTA elections in 2012.

In 2011, Thulung, was made the vice-president of the Yuwa Morcha and has been overseeing youth activities of the party.

Thulung, sources said used to spend more time in Darjeeling town than his constituency and had also rented a room in Darjeeling.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY A STAFF REPORTER