Darjeeilng, June 30: The Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha today did not start any agitation over the arrest of a
GTA member as was expected while sources said the party was mulling
approaching the high court over the Jamuni land case.
The Morcha had
said after 61-year-old Kaziman Lohagun’s arrest on June 27 that it would
start a “peaceful and democratic” protest if he was not released
“unconditionally” by June 29.
But chances of Lohagun’s release sank when the chief judicial magistrate remanded him in police custody for five days.
Lohagun is accused
of supplying weapons to six Morcha supporters who threatened a
landowner, Manilal Tamang, who was reluctant to part with his 8-acre
plot in Jamuni for a GTA tourism project that has Bimal Gurung’s
blessings.
Lohagun, who holds the GTA seat of Bijanbari-Pulbazar, would be produced in court tomorrow.
The Morcha could
be waiting to see what the court says tomorrow. Binay Tamang, the
assistant general secretary of the party, today said: “The party has not
yet decided on the agitation.”
A source in the
party said the Morcha leadership was mulling the possibility of “getting
relief on the entire Jamuni issue in the high court” instead of
“talking only about the arrest of our elected GTA Sabha member”. But the
source added that the matter was “still at the planning stage”.
Lohagun has been
booked for criminal trespass, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy
and common intent under the IPC. He has also been charged with sections
under the Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Act and the Arms Act.
Manilal had filed an FIR on June 17 alleging that six people had threatened him to vacate the land.
Police said that
after the arrest of the six accused, they had found out that Lohagun had
supplied them with weapons and had arrested him to recover more arms.
The police said they had recovered an improvised gun, a khukuri and a rod after the arrest of the six.
The six arrested will be produced in court on July 8.
The GTA claims it
has not forcibly taken over the land and that the landowners had given a
written consent to the hill body in 2012 to start the tourism project.
In April, nine
landowners had complained to the Darjeeling district magistrate, saying
the GTA had forcibly occupied 13 acres of their land in 2011 to develop a
tourist spot but it had not paid them compensation.
The disputed land falls under the GTA constituency represented by Lohagun.(TT)