Gurung aides arrested

TT, Siliguri: Three persons, known to be close aides to Darjeeling leader Bimal Gurung, were arrested from Tukvar located on the outskirts of Darjeeling town on Tuesday.

Police said they had ransacked and set fire to an NBSTC bus at Darjeeling Motor Stand on June 9 last year, that is, on the first day when violence sparked in the hills.

The trio have been identified as Siddhant Biswakarma, Uday Gurung and Anup Pradhan. While Siddhant was the driver of Bimal, Uday used to work as his personal guard.

"All three of them were arrested for the arson and were produced at the additional chief judicial magistrate's court here on Wednesday," said Sudip Roy Basunia, assistant public prosecutor, in Siliguri.

Among the trio, police had appealed for custody of Biswakarma. The court heard the case and granted five days' police custody to him. Two others were sent to judicial custody, also for five days, the APP added.