Darjeeling tense after Tamang's murder

Apart from Gurung, a first information report (FIR) was also filed against GJM secretary Roshan Giri over the killing of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) president Tamang.

Darjeeling district acting Superintendent of Police Gourav Sharma was leading the raids that started soon after Tamang was stabbed to death Friday near the Planters’ Club here while he was making preparations for a party rally later in the day.
At least 45 people have been detained while raids are on in different parts of the three Darjeeling Hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong to nab the culprits, said Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) Kundan Lal Tamta.

Tamang, 64, who led the anti-GJM Democratic Front in the Darjeeling Hills, died of stomach and shoulder injuries after he was attacked with a khukri (long knife used by Nepalis) and swords on Laden La Road around 9:30 am on Friday. ABGL general secretary Laxman Pradhan blamed the GJM for the killing. The GJM has denied its involvement and instead blamed the state administration.

Tamang’s body has been kept at his house in Darjeeling town and would be taken to his ancestral house at Magma for cremation as per Buddhist rituals on Monday, ABGL sources said.

The articulate and well-educated Tamang was involved in hill politics for over 40 years as a front-ranking ABGL leader. A strong advocate of a new state of Gorkhaland, to be carved out of parts of northern Bengal, Tamang had all along maintained a distinct identity of the ABGL and consistently opposed the GJM, which has been spearheading the statehood agitation for the last couple of years.
The GJM was cut up with Tamang after he levelled corruption charges against its chief Gurung and threatened to banish him from the hills.Securitymen guarding Governor M K Narayanan, now in Darjeeling, have also been put on high alert in view of the killing and the resultant tension.

Panic was palpable in Darjeeling town with only a handful of shops and markets opening Saturday and very few people seen on the roads. In Kurseong sub-division, most of the shops and markets were closed for the second consecutive day.
Agencies