GJM activist arrested for alleged assault, vandalism

EOI, Darjeeling 11 Dec 2015: A GorkhaJanmukti Morcha activist was today arrested on charges of vandalism after a Trinamool Congress supporter from Tukvar lodged a complaint at the Darjeeling sadar police station this morning. 

GJM supporter Jiten Tamang from the Lepcha Busty area of Tukvar has been arrested while a search is on to nab those named in the FIR by the TMC activist. 

“We have arrested one person whose name figures in the FIR along with 11 others. We have started an investigation to get the details,” said a senior police official not wanting to be named. 

According to the police, Tamanna Chhetri, a TMC area president, was attacked and her house vandalised supposedly by GJM cadres. In her complaint, Chhetri has named Devan Sharma and Dipen Malay as the masterminds behind the attack and vandalism and has also accused 11 others. 

Malay is the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Sabhasad from Pokhriabong-Chamong constituency, while Sharma is a GJM central committee leader. The two could not be contacted for comment. The incident took place on Thursday night at 9pm when, according to Chhetri’s complaint, local GJM activists numbering nearly 10-12 came to her house and attacked her without any provocation. 

Chhetri could not be reached for her comments, but Rajen Mukhia, the hill TMC president, said, “The attack was political and done with an intention to terrorise our party supporters. We have given the police a 12-hour ultimatum to arrest the accused, failing which we will stage a dharna in front of the police station.” 

This, morning, TMC supporters gathered outside the Darjeeling sadar police station and staged demonstrations demanding the arrest of the GJM cadres named in the complaint. They also put up posters in town, condemning the attack and vandalism of the TMC leader’s house. 

Jyoti Kumar Rai, the GJM assistant secretary, said it was a stray incident and had nothing to do with the party. “The incident is being politicised by the TMC to gain public sympathy. Let the police do their duty and arrest the actual culprits and not our innocent supporters.”