A day after the brutal killing of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang, the police has arrested several people but the alleged mastermind of the crime, a leader of the youth wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, is still eluding arrest. “Dinesh Gurung, president of GJM Yuba Morcha town committee was the key planner of the killing of Tamang in Darjeeling yesterday,” Inspector General of Police (North Bengal), K.L. Tamta said.
The police has asked the GJM leadership to ask Gurung to give himself up. The Gorkha League has filed an FIR against half-a-dozen GJM leaders. It is not clear whether the names of party chief Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri figure in the list or not.
The primary investigations of the police have revealed that Tamang’s assassination was a pre-planned crime. “There were three coordinated attacks on Friday morning. Besides the attack at the Planters’ Club venue of the Gorkha League’s scheduled rally where Tamang was killed, his residence was also attacked. The third attack was made at the house of his associate Dawa Sherpa,” police source said.
Tamang was hacked to death allegedly by an armed group of GJM supporters at 9.15 am while he was supervising the preparations for a public rally. The broad daylight murder sent shockwaves in Darjeeling and other sub divisions Kurseong and Kalimpong. The murder of 64- year old Tamang, who was a respected Gorkha leader, led to a spontaneous bandh in the hills which continued on Saturday. The roads in Darjeeling wore a deserted look.
Tamang’s murder also triggered a public outrage. In the evening, the residents of Darjeeling took out a candlelight rally to lodge their protest against the politics of violence. They carried “We want peace” placards.
Hundreds of people assembled at his residence to pay their last respects.