Darjeeling, July 4: A police convoy
of seven cars arrived at the GTA administrative headquarters
unannounced this morning and became a cause of consternation for the
hill body’s leaders, who have said they would write to the state home
secretary.
GTA sources and
leaders said the cars that arrived at 11am and stayed for 10 minutes.
Some policemen were seen checking vehicles on the Lal Khoti premises.
Binay Tamang, an
executive GTA Sabha member, said: “I was informed that the additional
superintendent of police of Darjeeling today entered the Lal Khoti with a
convoy of seven police vehicles around 11am without intimating the GTA
about the need to visit the premises.
“I have directed
the secretary of the GTA to seek a report from the higher authorities of
the police department on the purpose of the visit and have also told
the secretary to request the police to give prior intimation of such
visits.”
The alleged
surprise visit by the police team has happened days after an elected GTA
member, Kaziman Lohagun, was arrested as an accused in the Jamuni land
case.
Lohagun is accused
of supplying arms to six persons who threatened a landowner who alleged
his plot was forcibly taken by the GTA for a tourism project.
The GTA has announced that the hill body would relocate the tourism project from the disputed area in Jamuni.
There was a buzz
in administrative circles today that the police were looking for GTA
Sabha member Satish Pokhrel, whose name had cropped up in the
investigation related to alleged threatening of a landowner from Jamuni.
There is no official confirmation on this from the police, though.
Don Bosco Lepcha,
secretary of the GTA, who was asked about the visit by the police, said
he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Sources in the GTA
said the hill body would write to a state home secretary referring to
Tamang’s letter to the GTA secretary. “A letter would also be sent to
the Darjeeling SP and the matter would be conveyed to the Darjeeling
district magistrate,” said a GTA source.
Darjeeling police
chief Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi said the team had gone to check a police
camp located on the Lal Khoti premises.
“There is a police camp located on the Lal Khoti premises and some officers might have visited the camp,” he said.
Asked if the police needed permission to visit any premises, Chaturvedi replied in the negative.
Six constables and an assistant sub-inspector of police are stationed at Lal Khoti for security.
Tamang, however, said the police did not visit the camp.
“I have been
informed that the police personnel did not visit the area where the camp
is located but they looked around in vehicles that were parked on the
GTA office premises. They came towards the main Lal Khoti building,”
Tamang said.
S. Sarkar, the Darjeleing additional SP, said he had gone “to visit the camp”.
Officials in the GTA, too, said that they were surprised.
“Usually,
government officials send a requisition to the police for deployment of
personnel where the officers apprehend trouble in cases like submission
of deputations,” said a GTA official who did not want to be named.(TT)