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The Hindu
PTI

The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has deferred its indefinite bandh to August 30 from tomorrow to allow the administration more time to find Nicol Tamang, the main accused in the killing of Gorkha leader Madan Tamang, who escaped from CID custody last week.

The decision to defer the bandh was taken after a meeting with Darjeeling District Magistrate Surendra Gupta and Superintendent of Police Devendra Pratao Singh, GJM Assistant Secretary Benoy Tamang told newsmen here.

“They have been given time till 12:00 pm on August 30 to produce Nicol Tamang in court,” he said.

Nicole, a close aide of GJM president Bimal Gurung and a central committee member, escaped from CID custody on August 22 from the Pintail village, near Siliguri.
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The Telegraph

Siliguri, Aug. 25: The inspector-general of CID today ruled out that Nickole Tamang had escaped to Nepal, hinting that the prime accused in the Madan Tamang murder case might still be in the vicinity.

“We do not have any positive leads that he has fled to far-flung areas,” said P. Nirajnayan, IG, CID, when he was asked if Nickole had escaped to Nepal, Bhutan or Assam. “We are carrying out the investigation, some basic inputs are coming in and we are working on them.”

“Several theories and speculation about the escape are doing the rounds but we are waiting for a breakthrough. A reward was announced yesterday, and we expect some developments soon.” The CID has announced Rs 50,000 as reward for information on Nickole, a central committee member of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, leading to his arrest.

As far as the investigation is concerned, Nirajnayan said, more officers have been included in the probe team, and two suspended policemen replaced. The additional director-general of the CID, Raj Kanojia, too, will come here tomorrow to join the investigations. (more…)

The Telegraph

Siliguri, Aug. 25: The body of an aide to Sanjog Tamang, the son of slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang, was found in a room in the family’s house this morning.

Raju Tamang, 29, of Jorebungalow, used to stay with Sanjog in his house in a township near Matigara on the outskirts of Siliguri. He used to serve him tea every morning.

When Raju did not turn up to do the same today, Sanjog went to his room and knocked on the door only to find it locked from inside. He informed Matigara police who broke open the door and found Raju’s body on the bed.

“There were no external injury marks on the body. We have recovered a bottle of liquor and some sedative tablet strips from the room. The body has been sent for post-mortem and a case of unnatural death has been initiated,” said D.P. Singh, the superintendent of police, Darjeeling.

According to Singh, Sanjog had recently employed Raju. “So far we have not found any connection of this death with Madan Tamang’s,” he said.
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The Telegraph

Darjeeling, Aug. 24: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has announced a two-day relaxation in its indefinite strike from tomorrow after the Darjeeling police chief assured the party that there was no foul play in Nickole Tamang’s disappearance from custody.

Even though the Morcha said a decision on the continuation of the strike would be taken on Thursday evening, indications are that it might be withdrawn following the assurance.

Nickole, a central committee leader of the Morcha and a prime accused in the murder of ABGL leader Madan Tamang, had escaped from CID custody in Pintail Village on the outskirts of Siliguri on Sunday.

The Morcha had alleged that Nickole, suffering from high blood sugar and kidney problems, had probably died during interrogation and that the police were trying to hush up the incident by claiming that he had escaped from the camp. Bimal Gurung’s outfit had called an indefinite strike across the hills from Sunday, demanding that the police produce Nickole “in the flesh” within 12 hours.

Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said: “We met the superintendent of police today and he has confidently assured us that there has been no foul play in the incident. We take his words as the truth and have now decided to relax the indefinite strike for two days starting from tomorrow. The police chief has also admitted that there was a security lapse.”

Although markets, offices and schools are set to reopen from tomorrow morning, the Morcha has not lifted its strike in the offices of the DGHC across the hills as part of its ongoing non-cooperation movement against the state.

The Morcha leadership has also written to Union home minister P. Chidambaram, minister of state for home Ajay Maken, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

“We have also sent a fax to railway minister Mamata Banerjee and Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, apprising them of the disappearance of Nickole Tamang,” said Giri.

The superintendent of police of Darjeeling, D.P. Singh, admitted that the Morcha delegation had met him and that he had assured the leaders there was no foul play.

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The Telegraph

Siliguri, Aug. 24: The West Bengal Heritage Commission has decided to identify and document historic buildings and sites in five districts of north Bengal.

The commission today signed a memorandum of understanding with North Bengal University to carry out the study that will cover Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts.

A 16-member committee comprising representatives of the varsity, the commission and the five districts has been constituted for the project.

Anand Gopal Ghosh, the head of the history department at NBU and the co-ordinator of the project, said structures and sites which were more than 100 years old, would be considered as heritage properties. “Archaeologists and historians in the country choose monuments and sites that are more than 100 years old as heritage sites and we shall also follow the same criterion. A good example of a historic site is the King Sahib’s ghat in Jalpaiguri built in 1808. At that time, there was no road to connect the Dooars with Jalpaiguri and people had to cross the Teesta by boats and streamers from the ghat,” said Ghosh.

Commission chairman Barun De said the project would be the first of its kind to be taken up by them in north Bengal.

“We have made a lot of progress in the identification and the documentation of heritage sites in south Bengal, but this is the first venture by us in north. The NBU is a repository of knowledge in archaeology and that is why we have decided to team up with them,” he said. “The commission does not exactly define a criterion for heritage sites and the committee should work with a broad view.

De added that Malda had been excluded from the project as old monuments and sites in the district had already been documented by Pradyut Ghosh, a professor at Malda College.

Sukumar Samanta, the commission secretary, said temples, mosques, churches, zamindari baris (ancestral properties of the zamindars) and houses of famous personalities or freedom fighters could be considered as the historical sites. “Landscapes like old tea gardens, forests and riverine tracts can also be considered for heritage status,” he added.

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The Telegraph

Aug. 24: The state government is rushing three companies of CRPF to the Darjeeling hills fearing a fresh outbreak of violence following the disappearance of Nickole Tamang from CID custody.

The Darjeeling district administration has assured the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha that no physical harm has come to Nickole and that he will be traced soon, but with extensive searches over the last two days yielding no results, the police are unsure about when he will be found.

“The state government is leaving no stone unturned toensure peace in the hills,” a district official said. “This is why the three companies of paramilitary forces which had been shifted to Jammu and Kashmir on August 20 will be replaced.”

The Morcha has voiced fears that Nickole, a prime suspect in the Madan Tamang murder case who had been taken into custody by the CID, may have come to harm during police interrogation since he is a diabetic and is hypertensive. The party has voiced apprehensions that the “escape theory” was hatched by the police to cover it up.

“Nickole may not have been able to bear the tough interrogation by the police, given his fragile health,” Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha, said today. “They are now making up these stories.”

Nickole is a central committee member of the Morcha and is known to be close to party chief Bimal Gurung.

“We fear that if we are unable to produce Nickole Tamang soon, the Morcha may get restive and fresh violence may break out in the hills,” an officer said. “For the time being, we have assured them that Tamang has escaped, but if we are unable to recapture him soon then they may start doubting us.”

Today, the district police carried out searches near Pintail Village from where Nickole allegedly escaped on Sunday morning, as well as in Sukna and Matigara.

“Nickole may have initially taken shelter in Morcha strongholds near Pintail village, but it now appears that he has moved away, maybe to Nepal, about 45km from here,” a police officer said in Siliguri.

Darjeeling police chief D.P. Singh said the CID has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information on Nickole leading to his arrest (see below).

State home secretary Samar Ghosh today said P. Nirajnayan, inspector general, CID, would visit Siliguri tomorrow to supervise the search operations and also investigate Nickole’s disappearance. The government is keen to know why a Darjeeling district police escort team meant to guard Nickole was sent back while the accused stayed overnight at cottage 29 in Pintail. The CID has come under scanner for flouting a government rule that says those in police remand has to be kept at the lock-up at night.

Cash for catch

Reward amount: Rs 50,000
To be given by: CID
For: Any information leading to Nickole’s arrest l Contact numbers: 03324506100 9433295531 9433352094 9733008001

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www.indiablooms.com

Darjeeling/Siliguri, Aug 24 (IBNS) The pro-statehood Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) said the ongoing indefinite strike in West Bengal’s Darjeeling would be lifted for 48 hours from Wednesday after assurances from the police that party leader Nickol Tamang, who was arrested for the killing of a senior Gorkha leader, would be tracked down.

Nickol Tamang has escaped from police custody Sunday from Pintail village near Siliguri.

A party spokesperson said they agreed to relax the strike following assurance from the district superintendent of police that Nickol Tamang would be produced before them.

The indefinite bandh crippled life in Darjeeling hills for third straight third day on Tuesday preventing stranded tourists an exit point vehicles were off the roads on National Highway connecting neighbouring Sikkim. (more…)

www.indiablooms.com

Darjeeling/Siliguri, Aug 24 (IBNS) An indefinite bandh crippled life in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills for third straight third day on Tuesday preventing stranded tourists an exit point forcing the vehicles off the roads on National Highway connecting neighbouring Sikkim.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called a shutdown in three hill-sub-divisions, namely, Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, demanding production of Nickol Tamang, the prime suspect of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) president Madan Tamang’s murder, who escaped from the CID custody on Sunday from Pintail village in Siliguri.

The women wing of the GJM gheraoed police stations at Darjeeling and Kalimpong on Tuesday morning demanding the presence of Nickol Tamang ‘dead or alive.’ The Nari Morcha or the women wing shouted slogans ” Pharkao haamro neta,” (return of our leader).
GJM leader Binoy Tamang said on Tuesday that bandh would continue until the production of Nickol Tamang “dead or alive.” The GJM claimed that that Nickol was murdered while he was in the custody.

The bandh was intensified today after Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League joined the shut down of the hills demanding re-arrest of Nickol Tamang, who is also a GJM’s central committee secretary.

ABGL’s general secretary Laxman Pradan claimed that all the tea estates and cinchona gardens responded to the bandh called for rearresting the fugitive, saying the “jail escape” was a ploy on the part of the West Bengal government to please the GJM.

The GJM claimed the bandh has been successful for its influence with the people and the ABGL has nothing to do.

The Siliguri police filed a case with Pradhan Nagar Police station under 224 -IPC for fleeing of Nickol from CID custody. Nickol, who was arrested on August 16 for May 21 murder case of of Madan Tamang, was on judicial remand and subsequently on CID remand upto August 30 by an order of Darjeeling’s Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.

Meanwhile, the visiting travellers in Sikkim and Darjeeling stranded and having tough time to pass through due to spiralling prices of essentials and vegetables.

Police on Monday escorted some 200 odd tourists to Siliguri from Darjeeling but the bandh supporters today completely shut the roads. The tourists in Sikkim also got stuck as the NH 31A, the line life of Sikkim, was out of bound.

Special Superintendent of CID(North) Nishad Parvez today said they were still looking for Nickol.
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The Telegraph
VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, Aug. 23: Tourists today blamed travel agents for failing to inform them about the situation in the hills even as 40 of the nearly 100 visitors managed to leave a rain-lashed Darjeeling town in the first bus.

Two more buses were provided late in the evening by Darjeeling police, who claimed that most visitors have left the hill station.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has called an indefinite shutdown in the hills after Nickole Tamang disappeared from Pintail Village, refused to issue any “passes” this time. The Morcha has demanded that Nickole, a central committee member of the party and a prime suspect in the Madan Tamang murder case, be produced alive. It has alleged that the police are trying to hide that he died in custody.

Groups of tourists stood at the Darjeeling motor stand with their luggage as local drivers refused to bring out their vehicles without a written permission from the Morcha.

Ishamani Pakhrin, the president of the Morcha’s Darjeeling town committee, said “permits” would not be issued this time. “We request the hoteliers to convey to their boarders (tourists) to stay in the hotels as we are not providing any permits this time around.”

Many tourists also lined up before the office of the Darjeeling traffic police from 7.30am. But with the entire town closed, there was not even a cup of tea or a quick bite available.

In the past, the Morcha had issued “passes” to ferry tourists during the strike. This probably made hoteliers underestimate the gravity of the situation.

S. Chatterjee, a resident of Calcutta who had a train to board this evening, said: “I was not completely aware of the situation. I was told that one could get a vehicle to reach Siliguri as in previous strikes such arrangements had been made for tourists.”

Even though the Darjeeling police did finally manage to get one of their buses to take 40 visitors to Siliguri in the morning, it came late for people like Sasha from Poland and Melloine from France, who could board the vehicle, but were sure to miss their 2pm flight. The bus started from Darjeeling around 11am and at least three hours would be needed to reach Siliguri. “Even though we will miss our flights, we are happy to get out of the town,” said Sasha.

N.K. Dhangar, a resident of Patna, who had to board Capital Express at 2pm, was at a loss, as he along with 60-odd people, could not manage a place in the first bus.

Dhangar alleged that his hotel had not apprised him of the gravity of the situation. “We were told about the strike around 3pm yesterday. It was already late to leave town,” Dhangar said. However, had the hotelier impressed upon Dhangar a clearer picture, he could have taken a chance. The Morcha had allowed vehicles to ply till 6pm yesterday, five hours after the strike had been enforced.

A hotelier, on condition of anonymity, did not rule out the possibility of some hotel owners suppressing information so that they had the boarders for an extra day or two. “As soon as I got to know about the strike, I immediately asked the tourists to leave the place. There is every possibility of some hoteliers suppressing information thinking that permits would be issued by the party anyhow,” the hotelier added.

Low budget hotels do not take the burden of arranging vehicles for tourists. During the season, the hills have around 10,000 visitors at any point of time. In monsoon, the figure comes down to as low as 100, but even then, nothing prompt could be done about their transport.

District magistrate Surendra Gupta said the administration would ensure that all tourists left town. “Since there is a strike it is taking time to arrange for vehicles, but we will definitely escort all the tourists out of Darjeeling,” he said. Late in the evening, the Darjeeling police said two more buses with tourists left the hill station. “We are sure that most of the tourists have now left,” a police officer said.

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The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

Kalimpong, Aug. 23: A fest centered around the luscious juicy fruit, the orange, is expected to be a big draw in December in the far flung hill areas, tour operators feel.

Samsing-Jaldhaka Orange Festival will be held at Samsing Phari, 100km from here, on December 6 and 7.

Although named after a fruit, the fest is likely to offer much more than just a glimpse of the orange orchards found here.

The villagers have formed a committee to oversee the preparations that they intend to fund themselves. An advisory committee comprising representatives of eco-tourism stakeholders in the area, like the Kalimpong division of the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC) and Wildlife Division II has also been formed.

“We will help the villagers with expertise and human resources during the festival. However, we will provide no funds,” said U. Ghosh, divisional manager of WBFDC’s Kalimpong division.

“Over the past few years our revenue generation has reached a saturation point. The overall occupancy rate in our resorts has remained stagnant at about 50 per cent. We want to go beyond that. That is why we are helping to organise this event that will help promote the area as an eco-tourism destination,” said Ghosh.

The fest is named after orange because the fruit is widely grown here.

“The idea is to showcase the culture, livelihood and food habits of these remote villages. The organisers are also planning to bring a cultural troupe from Bhutan to add more flavour to the event,” Ghosh said. They are also trying to invite participants from Sikkim and Nepal for an ethnic fashion parade.

“A quiz, a workshop, a seminar and a mountain bike rally from Lava to Johlung or Peren will also be held during the fest,” he added.

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