Morcha wants Nickole in 10 days

Darjeeling, May 27: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has set a deadline of 10 days for the government to produce Nickole Tamang in court, a day after the CBI arrested a party leader for his alleged involvement in the Madan Tamang murder case.

Although the Morcha was the first party to demand a CBI inquiry into the Madan murder, there are enough indications that the Morcha is looking at piling pressure on the administration by its deadline — a move observers believe is aimed at deflecting the focus of the murder probe.

The party has not specified what it would do after the deadline expires, hinting only that it would be a strong agitation.

Nickole, a Morcha central committee member and a prime accused in the murder case, disappeared from CID custody on August 22, 2010, and is still untraceable. The CBI is inquiring both into Tamang’s murder and the disappearance of Nickole.

Priyabardan Rai, the general secretary of the Yuva Morcha, today said: “We had asked for the CBI inquiry and we still want the agency to investigate the incident. However, they should refrain from harassing and arresting innocent people. Dipan Mallay is innocent. The administration should first produce Nickole Tamang alive within 10 days or else we will launch an agitation.”

The CBI had detained Mallay from his native place Pokhriabong, 25km from here, on Wednesday and registered his arrest after an interrogation yesterday.

Sources said following Mallay’s arrest the police had been conducting raids in the Lebong Valley area.

Even before the expiry of the 10-day deadline, Rai said the party would organise a series of rallies across the hills from May 31.

“A rally would be organised in Darjeeling on May 31 and June 3, followed by rallies in Kalimpong on June 1 and in Kurseong on June 4.”

The single-point slogan during the rally would be to produce Nickole “alive”.

While the CID, which was earlier investigating the murder case, maintains that Nickole had escaped from their temporary camp office at Pintail Village near Siliguri, the Morcha had alleged that he might have been killed because of torture by the investigating officials.

Nickole’s family members had filed a habeas corpus at Calcutta High Court following which the court had directed the state government to hand over the case to the CBI last year.

Mallay has been taken to Calcutta by the CBI for further investigation. The investigating team will have to produce the accused in court on June 4.

Mallay has been booked under sections 147/148 (rioting/rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506 (criminal intimidation), 302 (murder), 120 (conspiracy) and 34 (act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC.

Manik Saha, assistant public prosecutor, had yesterday said Mallay had “confessed to his guilt” while Mallay himself had said he was innocent. So far nine people are in custody for their alleged involvement in the case. Of them, eight had been arrested by the CID.

ABGL leader Tamang was hacked to death by khukuri- wielding people in broad daylight in Darjeeling on May 21 last year.

--TT