Expelled GJM leader claims he told Bimal Gurung about bomb makers

Pramod Giri, HT, 5 September 2017, Kolkata: A day after the Bengal police claimed to have unearthed a bomb making factory in the Darjeeling hills, expelled Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader Binoy Tamang claimed that top leaders of the party knew about such activities.

The former assistant secretary and chief coordinator of GJM said, “I cautioned party president Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri about such undemocratic activities.”

He claimed that his differences with senior leaders developed only after he took up this issue.

Police on Monday claimed to have found bomb making materials in the house of GJM supporters at Dabai-Pani Bustee, about 20 km from Darjeeling town.

Tamang is now believed to be sharing a cordial relationship with the state government. “We should not turn Darjeeling into another Kashmir,” he said on Tuesday. No leader of any party, including the Trinamool Congress, has so far compared the north Bengal hills to the Kashmir valley. Tamang’s statement came as a shock to many because the Bengal police too have brought charges against Gurung under sections of anti-terror law. The state government has also accused GJM of having connection with militants from the North East.

Tamang, who led the GJM team at the August 29 meeting with Mamata Banerjee, was always a softliner while Gurung is a known hardliner. Tamang and Anit Thapa, who too attended the meeting, were expelled because their unilateral decision to withdraw the bandh was condemned by GJM supporters. The bandh entered its 83rd day on Tuesday.