Drama lands at Bagdogra airport, not Gurung ...cops nab two

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, 05 April  2019, Bagdogra: A drama unfolded at the Bagdogra airport on Thursday and continued for around five hours till mid-afternoon, a day after leaders who represent the Bimal Gurung faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha announced that he will arrive here with Roshan Giri and head for the hills to campaign for the BJP.

The announcement made senior police officials to rush to the airport and deploy police forces outside the terminal building. Also, groups of supporters of both the Gurung faction and the Binay Tamang lobby assembled in and outside the airport premises, waiting for the leaders who have gone into hiding for almost two years now.

Though none of them arrived from Delhi from where they were supposed to board the flight, the police could find two associates of Gurung at the airport as they disembarked from a flight.

Rohan Rai and Yogendra Pradhan were whisked away by policemen, as senior officials including IGP Darjeeling Range Manoj Verma and SP Darjeeling Amarnath K, monitored the operation.

Their sudden detention made representatives of Gurung to react. B.P. Bajgain, who claimed to be the spokesperson of Morcha's Bimal faction, claimed that duo flew from Delhi with some documents which they were supposed to submit in court.

"We were confident of our leaders (Gurung & Giri) will be in the hills. But later, considering the present state of affairs, we decided that some people in hills might try to foment fresh tension because of their presence. That made us postpone their visit," Bajgain said.

Their leaders, he said, will consult to legal experts to find a way out so that Gurung and others can come to the hills to campaign for the BJP candidate contesting from Darjeeling seat.

Also, Tshering Dahal, the president of Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha of Binay faction, who had been to the airport with some supporters and had plans to demonstrate if Gurung lands in Bagdogra, left.

"When peace has been restored in hills, they are trying to return with an intention to create unrest again. We will not let them succeed," Dahal said.

In another development, the hearing of a petition filed by a Calcutta-based lawyer seeking anticipatory bail for Gurung, Giri and 33 others, was deferred at the Circuit Bench of Calcutta High Court in Jalpaiguri on Thursday.

Additional reporting by Vivek Chhetri in Darjeeling & Our Jalpaiguri Correspondent.