GNLF removes chief of Kalimpong unit - SI attacked - Board office torched

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, Kalimpong, July 3: Fissures in the Gorkha National Liberation Front came to the fore today with the party's Kalimpong unit chief convener Maurice Kalikotey questioning the decision to drop him from his post.

Even though Kalikotey said the party had decided to dissolve the Kalimpong committee, GNLF spokesman Neeraj Zimba said only Kalikotey had been asked to step down from his post, otherwise the committee remains as it stands.

"We are looking for a suitable person to replace Kalikotey as the chief convener...He (Kalikotey) will be suitably absorbed into some other role. He will be brought into the central committee," he said.

Kalikotey had earlier said that the entire party rank and file was upset at the decision to dissolve the Kalimpong committee without informing anyone, including the branch president and secretary.

"We have been holding aloft the party flag in Kalimpong despite facing many difficulties. We are all taken aback by the decision. We demand that the central committee take back its decision within the next two days," he said.

Zimba, however, said the party's central committee has the power to act on its own.

ASI attacked

Manjil Rai, an assistant sub-inspector of police who was part of the security detail in Darjeeling, was admitted to the district hospital around 7.45pm on Monday with injuries - inflicted by a sharp weapon - to the head. A senior police officer said a probe was on to find out whether the attack was triggered by political or personal reasons. The police said he had been attacked near the Motor Stand area in Darjeeling. Rai was the ASI at Khoribari police station near Siliguri.

Office torched

The office of the Kami Development Board at the Homes area here was slightly damaged after alleged Gorkhaland supporters tried to set it on fire on Sunday night. The fire damaged the chamber of the board's chairman K. B. Bariely, but did not spread to other parts of the building.