Darjeeling,21 Dec 2013: The ripples of renewed friendship
between Bimal Gurung and chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata was
felt in the Hills today, with a Darjeeling court granting bail to Gorkha
Janmukti Morcha (GJM) assistant Binay Tamang. Tamang is also the
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) sabhasad from the Bloomfield
constituency of Darjeeling and was arrested on the night of August 21,
allegedly for torching the Takdah forest guest house at the start of the
fresh agitation for a Gorkha state in July.
He was later tagged in eighteen more
cases and was confined to judicial custody in-spite of receiving bail on
numerous occasions. The two cases related to Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling
was pending against Tamang. “Tamang has received bail in his last case
today and will be released after the paper work is completed,” said
Dinesh Chandra Rai, the defense lawyer for the GJM leader. Before the
Friday meeting with the Bengal chief minister, the GJM president had
said he was going with an open mind to listen to Banerjee who had
invited him. He had however stressed he would take up the release of
arrested leaders and activists, fervently. Though, Rai failed to
elaborate, court sources however said Santanu Mishra, the third court
additional district and session’s judge granted bail to Tamang on the
ground that he had been in the correctional home for a long time.
Today, the bail was granted in a case
related to the killing of the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president
Madan Tamang, who was murdered in broad daylight in the morning of May
21, 2010 in Darjeeling. “Mahesh Thakuri, the bodyguard of the AIGL
president had accused Tamang of being a part of the mob that attacked
him at the Clubside area, on the day of the murder,” the source said.
During the latest statehood agitation between August-September, police
arrested more than two thousand GJM activists including many leaders and
twelve GTA members. Besides, Tamang, four other GTA sabhasads have so
far been released on bail, while more than thirty activists are still in
various correctional homes. With the bonhomie restored, Gurung has also
consented to resume office as the GTA chief executive, the post he had
relinquished on July 30, to lead the statehood movement.
Commenting on Tamang’s bail, Roshan
Giri, the GJM general secretary Roshan Giri over phone from Kolkata
said, “We welcome the court’s decision for granting bail to our
assistant secretary. We also hope and expect other arrested leaders and
supporters too are granted bail at the earliest”.