In a raid conducted at Namchi in Sikkim, the West Bengal Police arrested six Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, only to be stopped by the Sikkim Police as the team could not furnish any official document. (Representational Image)
AS PROTESTS in support of the indefinite shutdown erupted again in the Darjeeling hills on Friday, trouble boiled over to neighbouring Sikkim. In a raid conducted at Namchi in Sikkim, the West Bengal Police arrested six Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders, only to be stopped by the Sikkim Police as the team could not furnish any official document. A shootout was also reported in the area, killing a resident of Pedong. Meanwhile, GJM expelled leader Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa, party assistant general secretary from Kurseong. GJM assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai said: “They are traitors and have engaged in anti-party activities.”
“Bengal Police teams visited Namchi and Melli areas (near Bengal-Sikkim border), where they arrested six people in connection with cases lodged in Darjeeling. We were not informed of the raids… There were no arrest warrants, no search warrant or even a court document. Therefore, we questioned them. We have detained the six (at Namchi police station) and told Bengal Police to get the relevant documents,” Pratap Pradhan, SP Sikkim South, said. “In a separate incident, there has been a shootout in Sadam (near Namchi). Evidence suggests that a Bengal Police team was present there. An unidentified resident of Pedong was killed. We have registered a murder case. We have asked the Bengal Police to help us,” he added.
Sources said the victim has been identified as Dawa Tshering Bhutia, the driver of Dawa Lepcha — a former Gorkhaland Territorial Administration member from Pedong. Sources added that at Namchi, Sikkim Police personnel confronted their Bengal counterparts, who were in plain clothes, after they arrested four GJM leaders. “In Melli, we stopped a Bengal Police team which had arrested two persons. However, due to lack of papers, the team was not allowed to take those arrested to Bengal,” said a Sikkim Police officer.
In June, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling had extended his support to the Gorkhaland movement. The CID has issued a lookout notice against Bimal Gurung, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri and Prakash Gurung, who heads the GJM Yuva Morcha. Bengal ADG (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma confirmed that a lookout notice has been issued. “The police raids in Sikkim and shootout points to what extent the police can go. Why a lookout notice…? We are involved in a peaceful agitation,” Giri said.
