Darjeeling, July 1: Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Sabhasad Kaziman Lohagun, arrested in connection with the Jamuni land case, was remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.
The GTA member of
Bijanbari-Pulbazar had been arrested on June 27 for allegedly supplying
weapons to six persons who had threatened a farmer who refused to part
with his land for a tourism project at Jamuni.
Pankaj Prasad, the
assistant public prosecutor, today said: “Biplab Roy, the chief
judicial magistrate of Darjeeling, has sent Kaziman Lohagun to 14 days
of judicial custody. Police have recovered ammunition from him when he
was in their custody.”
Prasad did not
elaborate on the ammunition, but Taranga Pandit, the defence lawyer,
said the police claimed that they had found one .303 live cartridge in
the bedroom of Lohagun’s residence at Kerabari, near Jamuni, 20km from
here.
The six men who
had allegedly threatened Manilal Tamang had also been arrested. The
police claimed that an improvised weapon, a khukuri and a rod had been
seized from the six.
In April, nine
landowners had complained to the Darjeeling district magistrate, saying
the GTA had forcibly occupied 13 acres in 2011 to develop it as a
tourist spot but it had not paid them compensation.
One of the nine landowners is Manilal whose family has eight acres(TT)