Couple fought frequently, says landlady

The room from where explosives were recovered. Picture by Passang Yolmo

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, Nov. 6: The Nepali couple who were arrested for possessing a huge cache of explosives used to quarrel over trivial issues every day and posed problems to their neighbours, said the wife of an eatery owner who had rented out a portion of his building to the duo.

Damayanti Subba said a room on the ground floor of her two-storied building had been rented out to the "quarrelling" couple around three months back.

Damayanti and her husband Bijay earn their living by running an eatery from the two-storied house in ward 46 of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

"Around three months back, the couple introduced themselves as residents of Birtamod in Nepal (60km from Siliguri) and asked for a room on rent. We gave them the room, with a kitchen and a toilet, on the ground floor of our house against a monthly rent of Rs 3,000. They had paid two months' rent as advance and moved in," said Damayanti.

As the couple, Dawa Tshering Bhutia and Puja Limbu, started staying at the accommodation, the first problem that Damayanti and Bijay faced was their constant fights.

"Almost everyday, both used to quarrel over trifle issues. Sometimes, either of them would walk into our eatery and sit there. The husband did not do any work. He used to go out but did not do any job. The couple did not interact much with our neighbours. I was shocked that they stored explosive items in their room," Damayanti said.

A few weeks back, their quarrel went to such an extent that Bijay and Damayanti, who live with their 15-year-son, called the tenants and asked them to vacate the room.

"Some neighbours had complained to us about the frequent quarrels. We asked them to vacate the room and leave on November 1. But they sought some more time and said they would leave by November 15," Bijay said.

The middle-aged couple - police sources said Dawa is 50 and Puja 44 - continued their stay at the accommodation.

"We had no clue that they had stocked explosives in the room. Yesterday late evening, police came, searched the room and took away some items which we could not recognise. They also took away the woman while she was sitting in our eatery. Later, we learnt that they had kept explosives and some other items in the room. We had heard about explosives stored by tenants going off at Champasari six-seven years back. We shudder to think of the consequences if the explosives had gone off in our home," said Bijay.

Dawa and Puja, he said, had told them that they used to run a roadside eatery at Darjeeling More.

"When they moved in, they had mentioned the eatery. They had also said they planned to open a similar eatery again," Bijay said.

When The Telegraph visited the room occupied by the Nepali couple this afternoon, crates of empty soft drink bottles and steamers used to make momos, along with a refrigerator, a bed, few chairs and tables, a showcase-cum-wardrobe and some other household items, were found inside.

In the same room, the couple had stored the explosives and other stuff in three bags.

"We had never thought that a middle-aged couple were involved in such activities. We believe from now on, house owners in our locality would be alert while renting out rooms," said Sujoy Mondal, a local resident.