AIGL meets CM, demands judicial inquiry into Madan Tamang murder case

All India Gorkha League leaders on Thursday met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Darjeeling and demanded a judicial inquiry into the Madan Tamang murder case in order to bring to light the actual truth. The AIGL also alleged the erstwhile Left Front government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha were hands in gloves.
Further, the party said lapses had been made by the then district administration and the police department during the initial investigation. “The state government had handed the probe to the CID who arrested Nicole Tamang, the prime accused. However, Tamang managed to escape from custody. It is curious to note that the prime accused was kept in CID custody in Pintail Village near Siliguri instead of police custody as should be the procedure,” said AIGL general secretary Pratap Khati. He also said KS Paharia, the investigating officer during the CID probe, was not booked as per provisions in the law. “Action should have been taken against Paharia as he was the investigating officer. Also, it is learnt that KL Tamta, then inspector general of north Bengal, had given written instructions for arranging adequate security for the public meeting where our leader was going to speak. But the SP did not follow the order,” Khati alleged.
Madan Tamang was hacked to death in broad daylight on the morning of May 21, 2010 at the Upper Clubside area of Darjeeling town. He was overseeing preparations for a public meeting when the heinous act was committed.
Asked about his take on the GJM’s involvement in the murder, Khati said, “Madan Tamang was the main target because he was the sole and most vocal voice against the GJM’s undemocratic activities. They (GJM activists) attacked and vandalised our leader’s houses and the party office. One of our leaders was also kidnapped and the final nail was the killing of our former president,” said the AILG general secretary.
In their memorandum to the chief minister, the AILG has also noted that two consignments of arms from the Northeast had been brought to Darjeeling and a GJM Sabhasad was involved. “Sanjay Thulung, a GTA Sabhasad of the GJM, has been named as the one to have received the arms from the Northeast. He is on the run now,” the AIGL leader said.
One of the arrested in the November 2014 Assam arms haul case at Chirang district had named  Thulung, the GJM’s youth front vice-president and Sabhasad from Tukdah-Glenburn constituency as the one to receive the arms cache. He is presently untraceable.
When asked if the party had brought the issue of the CBI charge sheet against the 23 GJM leaders, Khati said, “We have told the chief minister that Gurung cannot be trusted as there is enough circumstantial evidence against him. Nothing happens within the GJM without Gurung’s consent. We told the chief minister that we want an impartial inquiry.”
Meanwhile, Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the GJM MLA from Kalimpong, who is also named in the CBI charge sheet, said his party had nothing to say on the AIGL’s allegations and demand. “It seems they (AIGL) know everything that we are unaware of. We believe in the judiciary and the law will take its own course. As far as the judicial inquiry is concerned, it is their demand and we have nothing to say,” he said.
During the course of the day, the chief minister met leaders and activists of the Trinamool hill unit and also handed out a cheque of Rs2 lakh to the Kanchenjunga Morning Club. Banerjee will leave for Kolkata, tomorrow after attending an inauguration programme in Bagdogra.
In the photo published in Echo of India, June 18 edition, the people the Chief Minister met on the Mall Road were from the Nawa Mangar Association.(EOIC)