A rumour turned hoax... tamang's security dead... Chances of Nickole in Nepal less: CID- Settlements around Pintail under scanner - ABGL alleges state-Morcha nexus in escape.... Durga Malla statue unveiled.. Shiva wins silver

KalimNews: A news about a murder of slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang's body guard in Siliguri by NewsX a Tv channel  was declared a hoax. Sources said a private security guard cum care taker of Sanjog Tamang son of Late Madan Tamang staying at Uttarayan in Siliguri was found dead in a mysterious condition. Raju Tamang (33) of Jorebunglow Thana area was found to have taken overdose of some drugs and had bolted his room from inside.  On knocking when there was no response the room was broke open and found Raju dead. The deceased security guard was an employee of a private company's security guard on duty and employed by Sanjok only a few month ago for the flat owned by Sanjog Tamang. Sanjok the only son of Late Madan Tamang was occasionally visits and stays in Uttarayan for his business and usually with his family at Darjeeling. Sanjog's mother Bharati Tamang President of ABGL is now in Delhi for meeting with the national leaders. 

TT, 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.
Meanwhile Dawa Sherpa and Pratap Khati of ABGL returned to hill and are now at Darjeeling and Kalimpong without any obstruction though GJMM had announced a no entry diktat to the ABGL leaders.

Chances of Nickole in Nepal less: CID- Settlements around Pintail under scanner 

IRB jawans check the bag and the motorcycle of a person at the entrance to Pintail Village on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, 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.

Nickole walked out of cottage 29 in Pintail Village, on the outskirts of Siliguri, on Sunday morning when a constable guarding him moved away to answer a cellphone with a fading signal. The other guard assigned to Nickole was having tea at that time and the suspect in police remand was without any escort for eight minutes, enough time to flee the complex. The CID had kept him at Pintail on Saturday night, flouting a government rule that says all undertrials in police remand must be kept in lock-ups in police stations at night.

Officers probing the escape said the areas around Pintail like Agam Singh Giri Nagar and Panchnoibusty were strong Morcha bases and it might have been easy for the fugitive to get shelter, food and money. “He escaped wearing a banyan and shorts and it would have been impossible for him to board a bus in that attire. He escaped without taking medicines for his diabetes and we are looking for people who might have helped him procure them,” an officer said.

The ABGL, whose leaders returned from Delhi today, demanded that the CBI be engaged in probing Nickole’s disappearance as well as the daylight killing of their party chief Madan Tamang in Darjeeling on May 21. Nickole has been accused of masterminding the ABGL leader’s murder.

With the CID still drawing a blank, ABGL leaders like Dawa Sherpa doubted the efficiency and sincerity of the investigating agency. “We had congratulated the CID when Nickole was arrested, but now we want an investigation by the CBI into both the escape and the murder of Madan Tamang. We have placed this demand before Union home minister, P. Chidambaram,” he said.

“We firmly believe that Nickole has not escaped but a deal had been struck between the state government and the Morcha. The state wants the Morcha to drop the demand to include the Dooars and the Terai in the interim set-up for the hills in lieu of Nickole’s escape. How could an accused otherwise just walk away from the fortified Pintail Village,” Sherpa alleged. He said the ABGL would file a writ in the high court, demanding to know how Nickole escaped from CID custody.

The ABGL leaders including its president Bharati Tamang met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Chidambaram and representatives of the National Human Rights Commission in Delhi last week. Sherpa said they had tried to impress upon Chidambaram that they were not satisfied with the Centre only talking to one party on the Darjeeling issue.

“The home minister gave us a patient hearing and said our demand would be considered. We are optimistic about a change in the negotiation process,” said Sherpa.

Durga Malla statue unveiled

KalimNews:A statue of Martyr Durga Malla was unveiled at Hamiltongunj in Central Dooars Dilkumari Bhandari, President of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangha and former MP of Sikkim on the occasion of Balidaan Diwas to honour the sacrifices made by Gorkha martyrs in the fight for Independence and in protecting the territorial integrity of India and specially martyr Durga Malla. It is recalled that on August 25, 1944, Durga Malla, a major in the Azad Hind Fauz, had been hanged in Delhi by the British. 

At the event in Hamiltonganj in the presence of district administration, intellectuals, local leaders and both the Gorkha and Adivasi people and all National Executive members of the BGP and the invited MPs tributes were paid to Durga Malla and other Gorkha martyrs.

Amar Singh MP & President of Federation for new states, Raja Bundela, P Niroop and Jaya Prada and BGP Officials, Joel Rai, Prof Munish Tamang, Dil kumari Bhandari , Enos Das Pradhan, Sukhman Moktan ,  Dasrath Tirkey PWD Minister, Wilson Champramari MLA, KK Lohar ADM of Jalpaiguri, Rajen Sundas BDO and others were present in the programme. Speakers like Amar Singh and Jaya Prada said that for the Gorkhas of Dooars and India formation of a separate state is the only solution and we would definitely raise the voice wherever and whenever necessary.
An added highlight of the programme was a blood donation programme, a seminar and cultural programme in the afternoon .

Bundh ease Life returns to Normal

TNN, DARJEELING: Life returned to near-normal in the Darjeeling Hills on Wednesday, the first day of the two- day bandh relaxation announced by GJM.
Markets, shops, business establishments, schools and government offices remained opened throughout the day. However, unlike other occasions, there was no rush to stock up on essentials.
"We don't want to stock up heavily as the commodities may go to waste if the strike does not continue. Previously, too, we put in lots of money to buy groceries and vegetables but the strike was called off," said Rani Subba, a local resident.
GJM provided the 48-hour relief and is yet to take a decision on whether to resume the strike after the deadline.
"Our central committee leaders will sit meet on Thursday and decide on what to do after the 48-hour relaxation," said GJM assistant secretary Benoy Tamang.
Groceries were available but greengrocers ran out of stock as vendors had not got time to make orders due to the sudden bandh called by GJM on Sunday.
"We couldn't stock up on vegetables as the bandh call came suddenly but we did have some stock. However, we will be able to provide enough vegetables to customers on Thursday," said Ram Prasad, a vendor at Chowk Bazaar.
GJM had called the bandh to press for the re-arrest of Nicole Tamang, the prime accused in the murder of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) leader Madan Tamang. Nicole escaped from CID custody from Siliguri last Sunday.
Meanwhile, the district police administration said on Wednesday that three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which had been taken back, will be deployed in the Hills to maintain law and order. The CID has also announced a cash reward of `50,000 for information on Nicole.

Handover to CBI

TH, KOLKATA: The State Congress leadership has demanded that investigations related to the murder of prominent politician Madan Tamang in Darjeeling on May 21 be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

They are presently being conducted by the State's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“We are demanding that the CBI take over the investigations as the recent escape of Nikol Tamang, a prime accused in the killing of Madan Tamang is an indication of the State CID'S intention to suppress the facts”, president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee Manas Bhunia said here on Wednesday.

“We have also demanded the removal of the CID officer in charge of investigations”, he added.

Nikol Tamang had escaped from the CID custody at Pintail Village near Siliguri in Darjeeling district early on Sunday six days after he was arrested in connexion with the murder.

Dr Bhunia also said that the State Congress has set up a committee that will prepare a note on the political situation prevailing in the Darjeeling hills and the plains of north Bengal.

Shiv thapa wins silver

Rediff.com:Boxer Shiv Thapa settled for a silver as he went down fighting to Cuban world champion Ramirez Robeisy Aloy in the bantam weight final on the penultimate day of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore on Wednesday.

It was Thapa's second loss to the same opponent in three months as he was beaten be Ramirez in the 54kg final of the World Youth Championships in May in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Indian was on the back foot early into the bout and he trailed 0-2 after the first round. He recovered a bit in the second round which saw both the pugilists taking two points each which left the Cuban ahead on 4-2.

Once he had taken the lead, the Cuban employed back-paddling and counter-attacking tactics. Thapa tried hard to come back into the bout by going all out but to no avail as the Cuban took one more point in the final round to win the bout.

Indian youth team coach G Manoharan said Thapa could not get the better of his opponent's back-paddling and counter-attacking tactics.

"The Cuban was backpaddling and counter attacking and that did not allow Thapa to attack. It was a close bout and my ward gave his all," Manoharan said after the bout.

With the silver won by Thapa on Wednesday, India's edal tally swelled to eight - six silver and two bronze.

The other five Indian silver winners are Pooja Dhanda (women's 60kg freestyle wrestling), Durgesh Kumar Pal (boys 400m Hurdles), H S Prannoy (badminton) and Arjun (discus throw) and Yuki Bhambri (tennis).

Kadian Satyawart (men's 100kg freestyle wrestling) and Vikas Krishan (60kg boxing) had won a bronze each.

‘Unknown’ ailment kills tusker

TT, Alipurduar, Aug. 25: A 50-year-old wild elephant that had been found limping more than four months ago died today, as the vets brought by the forest department failed to diagnose the ailment that had incapacitated the animal.

The tusker died in Khuttimari forest under Sonakhali beat of Jalpaiguri forest division this morning.

The foresters spotted the elephant moving on three legs on April 6.

The animal could not keep the right foreleg on ground.

“The next day, we decided to tranquillise the tusker and administer medicines, although it did not have any injury on the leg. Vets spent several hours, trying to detect the disease, but they couldn’t. Then, the guards kept the animal under close watch and thought that it would recover gradually,” said Kalyan Das, the Jalpaiguri divisional forest officer.

The elephant was darted again on May 28 as its condition deteriorated. The vets administered medicines to the tusker again, but there was no improvement.

The animal could move around only in a small area and it would groan in pain quite often.

“The tusker was more than 50 years old. We tranquillised it twice and it was kept under our close watch. It had a problem on the right foreleg. Since there was no injury mark, the vets could not detect the cause of the ailment,” said Das.

Animal lovers pointed out that the forest department did not have expert vets to treat wild animals.

“The foresters engage doctors from animal resource department for wild animals’ treatment. They should be given proper training so that better treatment could be provided to wild animals,” said Animesh Bose, the programme co-ordinator of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, a wildlife NGO.

Classes On

TT, Jaigaon: Classes will resume at Parimal Mitra Mahavidyalaya in Malbazar on Thursday. The institution was shut for two days as the SFI went on strike, demanding the repair of the ground, regular classes and separate common rooms for boys and girls. The teacher-in-charge, Nandita Sarkar, assured the SFI on Wednesday that the ground would be prepared and steps would be taken to meet the remaining demands. 
Funds allotted for flood 
SNS, SILIGURI, 25 AUG: An important embankment located at Subhasini in Jalpaiguri's Alipurduar sub division was badly damaged by the river Torsa today. Irrigation officials rushed to the spot this afternoon to take up restoration work for flood protection.
Though the flood situation was worsening in Jalpaiguri sub division today, the flood situation in Alipurduar sub division remained unchanged.
Over the past few days, river Torsa is flowing at the danger mark.  More rainfalls have been forecasted in the next 48 hours in this region, said Mr Dhiraj Dhar, executive engineer, over phone from Subhasini.
Top state irrigation officials today reported that Hasimara Air base; Subhasini tea estate, and Jaldapara forest have been badly damaged by Torsa in the last few days.
The swollen Torsa also affected Dalsingpara embankment and Rana Bahadur Basti in Alipurduar sub division; the officials said, interacting with the members of the standing committee of the irrigation waterways and water investigation department at a meeting held in Kolkata today. Floods also affected Kalchini and Hamiltongung.
The chairman of the standing committee, Mr Nirmal Das, said: “Three districts in North Bengal - Darjeeling, Jalpaigrui and Cooch Behar received abnormal rainfall this year creating shortfall of rain in South Bengal.”
The standing committee has asked irrigation officials to begin restoration work soon, out of allotted funds to the tune of Rs 44 crore in the three affected districts.