DGP in Hills, chalks out Gurung arrest strategy

Dwaipayan Ghosh | TNN | Oct 18, 2017, KOLKATA: With fugitive GJM chief Bimal Gurung's resolve to make a public appearance on October 30 meeting and an equally stern riposte by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to hold the fourth leg of the bilateral discussions in Darjeeling's Pintel village on November 21, the security agencies on Tuesday were prompted to redraw plans in their efforts to hunt down Gurung and his armed guards.

Intelligence reports suggested that the October 13 `gun-battle' had left several in the Gurung camp injured and they may require immediate medical attention to survive. The developments came on a day when state DGP Surajit Kar Purkayastha reached the Kalimpong police station to meet his senior colleagues posted in Darjeeling.

According to sources, the Mamata Banerjee government is keen on sharing its intelligence inputs with the Centre on a weekly basis. The CM herself indicated that the alleged sup port Gurung and his men have been receiving, both in and out of the country , along with their enormous stockpile of arms and ammunition can pose operational challenges for the state police forces.

The DGP visited important sadar stations in Darjeeling, Mirik and Kalimpong, including the Singmari outpost which had witnessed widespread violence two months ago and the Roy Villa on Lebong Cart Road that offers a vantage view of Lepchabasti -located close to the encounter site. He also saw Tukvar and the Singla forest where clashes took place between the Gurung supporters and security forces on October 13 and the area where Gurung's men are possibly holed up now.

"We have identified the chief mischief mongers and we will not let any of them get away ," said Purkayastha while talking to TOI.

His confidence stems from three inputs -Gurung might be shifting his base frequently as he has not managed to enter his safe abode is Sikkim's Namchi yet, the intelligence inputs have intercepted several mobile calls from the Singla forest area suggesting movement to and from the Sikkim-Bengal border and many missing GLP youths have called back home saying they have fallen ill. "This indicates that Gurung's camps may be short of able-bodied men," a source said.

(Source & Courtesy: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/dgp-in-hills-chalks-out-gurung-arrest-strategy/articleshow/61130112.cms)