Court relief for Gurung in Tamang murder case

TNN | Aug 18, 2017, KOLKATA: A city court on Thursday discharged Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung from the sensational murder of All India Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang in the heart of the tourist district of Darjeeling in 2010.

The ruling may not have any direct impact on the ongoing Hills agitation but will nevertheless come as a shot in the arm for the beleaguered Gurung, who has seen the agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state gradually slip out of his control.

The court, however, directed that charges be framed against all the other 47 accused, including the GJM chief's wife, Asha Gurung, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and party assistant secretary and spokesperson Binay Tamang. CBI counsel Arun Bhagat said the agency would challenge the order and file a review petition in the Calcutta high court.

There was no immediate reaction from GJM but a senior leader said it had come as a "big relief" for their president. Gurung, along with the other accused, filed discharge petitions on January 30, 2017. City sessions court chief judge Kundan Kumar Kumai, while discharging Gurung, rejected CBI's contention that the GJM supremo was involved in the conspiracy to murder political opponent Tamang, counted as one of the moderate pro-Gorkhaland voices.

Gurung's counsel and senior lawyer, Milon Mukherjee, had argued that Gurung was at a Kalimpong guest house when Tamang was murdered. "The CBI hasn't been able to produce any substantial evidence to prove he conspired to commit the murder. The CBI cannot simply rely on statements made to the CID back in 2010-2011," he said.

Madan Tamang's widow, Bharati Tamang, filed a petition on June 13, 2017, seeking an eight-week adjournment on the ground that the trial judge hailed from Kurseong in Darjeeling and would be unable to discharge justice, considering the political situation in Darjeeling. The CBI had opposed the plea at that time.

AIGL chief Tamang was attacked with sharp weapons, allegedly by GJM supporters, when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting just below Planters' Club in the heart of Darjeeling on May 21, 2010, and was declared dead at the Sadar Hospital.