Army denies link with ‘soldiers’ in video over Gorkhaland

TH, KOLKATA , JUNE 25, 2017 : After a video surfaced showing a group of men claiming to belong to the Indian Army and threatened to “hang” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Gorkhaland issue, the Indian Army has denied any association with them.

“It is to inform that the video circulated is not of serving Indian Army soldiers,” the Army Headquarters in New Delhi said in a statement. It also argued that the uniform of the men in the video is different from the usual Army uniform and the type of vehicle they were sitting in is not used by the Indian Army.

Points out loopholes

“The uniform is different. The vehicle appears to be a Toyota which is not used by the Indian Army,” the authorities said. They also said that the identity card worn by the men in the video appears to be of a “different pattern”.

The authorities also pointed out that one person in the video refers to the “Gorkha Rifles as Gorkha Regiment” which an “Indian Army Gorkha will not do”.

“Also consider the fact that Gorkhas both from Nepal and India are employed by security agencies and such companies in many countries; especially in Afghanistan,” the statement said.

‘CM should be hanged’

The video, slightly longer than two minutes, shows a group of men, purportedly carrying guns, raising slogans in support of the demand for the State of Gorkhaland. One of them also said that the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “should be hanged”.

As for the agitation in Darjeeling by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), one person in the video asked, “What is happening in Darjeeling? Just because we voiced our demands and two or three stones were thrown, they (police) have to open fire?”

“Listen Mamataji, we also know how to use a gun,” the man in the video said.

The development comes at a time when there is high tension in Darjeeling Hills over the GJM’s agitation demanding a separate State of Gorkhaland with the West Bengal government calling in the Army.

Ham operators pick up suspicious

Ham radio operators working with the security forces to track down radio communications of underground GJM leaders have picked up “suspicious and coded signals” of the activists to other countries and states.

The security forces and intelligence agencies first got the clue that the GJM was using radio signals as a mode of communication when two radio sets were seized during the June 15 raid on the premises of some Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leaders.

It was then that the police administration decided to deploy a group of Ham radio operators to track the radio communication of GJM activists.

The operators picked up the suspicious cross border signals during the drill.

“Most of the coded signals and communications were in Nepali and Tibetan languages. After decoding the words, we came to know about some kind of consignment that is about to come. The rest is classified and we cannot disclose it,” an official privy to information told PTI. (SOurce & Courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/army-denies-link-with-soldiers-in-video-over-gorkhaland/article19145402.ece )