Police find 'proof' of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha hand in Tamang murder...CPM slams talks interlocutor...

Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri / DNA, Kolkata: West Bengal CID has reportedly found concrete evidence of direct involvement of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders in the assassination of Madan Tamang.

The head of the All India Gorkha League was murdered in broad daylight in Darjeeling last Friday.

The most important of the clues is a 2.37-minute video purportedly showing the murder filmed by a French tourist from his hotel window on his mobile phone.

CID sleuths are examining the authenticity of the video, which has been posted on YouTube under the title ‘Madan Taman meurtre [killing] Darjeeling’.

Highly placed CID sources told DNA the video posted a day after the killing shows a man clad in a yellow jacket and carrying a patang (Sikkimese sword) running to the site where Tamang was lying in a pool of blood.

“The video shows the man with the patang looking at Tamang for a few moments and then rushing away after nearly colliding with another man. It appears that the man ran to the spot to be sure Tamang was dead,” a CID officer said.

The man has been identified as Kayla, a GJM youth leader with a notorious criminal record, including murder.

“We have also got specific clues that immediately after the killing, he [Kayla] called up top GJM leaders,” a CID source. Kayla is missing and police apprehend he is in Sikkim.

A resident of a village on the Darjeeling-Sikkim border, he is among the top contract killers in the region.

CID sources said Kayla caught the attention of the GJM leadership within a short period. “His emergence as a youth leader was mainly due to the patronage he received from GJM central committee member Nicole Tamang. We have sought details of the latest conversations between the two from mobile service providers,” a source said.

CID has filed a case under section 302 (murder) against Nicole and five others. All of them are missing.

CRPF personnel patrol Darjeeling town. Picture by Suman Tamang

TT, Siliguri, May 27: The CPM today accused the Centre-appointed interlocutor for the tripartite talks on Darjeeling of hobnobbing with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and asked the government not to allow the hill party to hold a rally on Sunday.

Jibesh Sarkar, a CPM state committee member, today said: “The support base of the Morcha has already shrunk in the hills (after Madan Tamang’s murder) as compared to what it had enjoyed earlier. But we are surprised to see that the interlocutor, Lt Gen. (retd) Vijay Madan, is meeting them and has requested the party leaders to carry on the dialogue with the state and the Centre. We think that he is not playing an impartial role.”

The CPM leader appealed to the state government to consider the present support base of the Morcha before inviting it to the next tripartite talks in Delhi.

“After Tamang’s murder, we noticed that thousands of people came out on the roads and openly vented their anger on the party. We have informed the state government that considering the present situation in the hills, it must reconsider the decision to invite the Morcha to the next tripartite meeting,” Sarkar said.

Tomorrow urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya and Saman Pathak, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, will go to Darjeeling to pay respects to the late ABGL leader, Sarkar said.

In the evening, the district CPM will organise a rally in Siliguri demanding restoration of democracy and measures to maintain the law and order in the hills.

“We have come to know that the Morcha will organise a huge rally in Darjeeling on Sunday and has already started threatening the common people, which we condemn. We have asked the administration not to allow such meeting before ensuring safety and security for the residents and maintaining peaceful atmosphere in the hills,” Sarkar said.

Gurung to cadres: blame murder on govt

TT, Darjeeling, May 27: Jolted by the hills’ show of defiance on the day of Madan Tamang’s funeral, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today directed the party leaders to go to the people with the message that the outfit had nothing to do with the killing of the ABGL chief. He asked them to explain the murder as a “conspiracy of the state government to weaken the Gorkhaland demand”.

Sources said Gurung had undertaken the exercise to “dispel” the widely held belief that Morcha supporters had hacked Tamang to death because he had not anticipated such a severe backlash against the party — even if it was for a day. On Monday, while the funeral procession snaked its way through Darjeeling town, people ripped off Morcha posters and festoons and shouted slogans asking Gurung to quit Darjeeling.

Gurung’s instructions to his cadres today are part of a “damage control measure” to ensure that the movement he is heading in the hills does not get derailed.

At the central committee meeting today, Gurung asked the leaders representing various units, blocks and zonal committees to “reach out to the people” with the message that the Morcha was not involved in Tamang’s murder.

Harka Bahadur Chhetri, media and publicity secretary of the Morcha, who had resigned from the party for a day, said after the meeting: “We have asked the leaders to go to the people and explain the conspiracy of the state government to weaken the Gorkhaland demand.”

The central committee has also decided to write to the Prime Minister, Union home minister and the Bengal chief minister to demand a CBI inquiry.

“The state has created an atmosphere of terror while the murder was largely because of lapses on the part of the administration,” Chhetri said. “By initiating a CID probe, the state is trying to cover up the entire issue and are unwilling to initiate a CBI inquiry which we believe will uncover the truth.”

The Morcha said it would not accept the CID probe. “We know what conclusions the CID will come to as it is controlled by the state. If the miscreants (killers of Tamang) have any links with the Morcha, we will disown them and not interfere with the law taking its own course. But first the CBI has to come up with evidence linking the killers with the Morcha,” added Chhetri.

The party offered condolences to the bereaved family by observing a minute’s silence before the meeting started.

Despite the state government not giving permission to hold Sunday’s rally, the Morcha said it was determined to make it a success. “We will put up screens right from the Motor Stand to the Darjeeling railway station so that all of Darjeeling can watch the rally. We will not allow any one to attend the meeting with lathis,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the Morcha.

The Morcha has also appealed to shopkeepers to keep their establishments shut during the meeting. “No vehicles, other than those ferrying party workers, will be allowed to move into the motor stand where the meeting will be held. The entire area will be manned by 5,000 volunteers of the Gorkhaland Personnel and the Morcha’s youth wing,” added Giri.

“The meeting is for peace and if we are not granted permission, it has to be understood that the state is against peace in the hills. But whether or not permission is granted, the Morcha will go ahead with the meeting,” he said.
Search for Bhaichungs ends, 15 selected 

A selection match of the Search for More Bhaichungs in progress at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on Wednesday. Picture by Prabin Khaling

TT, Gangtok, May 27: Fifteen soccer talent have been short-listed from a host of 94 footballers to receive scholarships and trainings at the state sports academy in Sikkim under the Search for More Bhaichungs scheme that was launched 11 years ago.

The 94 Under-17 footballers had earlier been picked up from 730 players representing the four corners of Sikkim in a district-level selection process conducted in the past few days.

Yesterday during the final trial matches at Paljor Stadium, a five-member selection committee keenly observed how the budding players dribbled the ball, tackled and attacked the opponents and defended themselves. Following the matches, the panel shortlisted the 15 players and submitted the list to the state sports and youth affairs department in the evening. The names will be announced tomorrow.

Once inducted into the academy, which operates from Paljor Stadium, the 15 will get scholarships from the state government to receive “scientific training and education” under the scheme launched in 1999, officials said.

The current strength of students at the academy is 30. Of them, 12 have been recruited by various soccer clubs in India and the army and police sports teams. Three more will join some other clubs soon.

In 2006, 30 boys had been selected from across the state for the Namchi sports hostel, also run under the same scheme. The vacancy was created after the first group of 30 Under-14 players, who had been recruited in 1999, had moved to the Gangtok academy the same year.

“During the preliminary selection proceedings held in all four district headquarters from May 17 to 23, we picked 94 talented players in the age group of below-17 and above-14 on the basis of their skill and physical fitness,” said Thupden Rapgyal Bhutia, the deputy director of the department.

Jerry Basi, who was in the bronze medal winning national team during the 6th Asian Games at Bangkok in 1970, was a member of the five-member selection committee at Paljor Stadium. The other members were former national players Karma Loday, Thakur Rai, Kushal Subba and Nima Thendup Bhutia.

“We had looked for inborn football skill among the boys. (We watched the) things which they do from their instincts — like releasing the ball quickly and having an idea of distance (between two players). They can be later trained accordingly,” said Basi. “I have seen three good potential goalkeepers who have lots of agility and can also grow taller,”said Basi.The selectors had a difficult task of short-listing the players, he added.

On the thrust given to football, the former player said the selection process was scientific and a solid administrative base had been created for the academy. “The academy is not just to bring up a group of players together. It also imparts theoretical classes in which the young players can understand techniques and later put them into practice,” said Basi.

The former footballer has asked the department to focus on the players’ diet and enhance the amount given for the purpose. “Unless a player gets good food, he cannot develop the strength which helps him build his skill and have better control over the game,” he said.
Gurung guns for 'Murderer' Govt
SNS: For hours on Thursday, Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM) president Mr Bimal Gurung was holed up in the Darjeeling Gymkhana Club in a series of meetings; first with his party's central committee and then with various block presidents of his party to take stock of the turbulent situation in the Hills following All India Gurkha League (AIGL) leader Madan Tamang's murder. Emerging from these meetings, he spoke to The Statesman's SABYASACHI ROY in a freewheeling interview. Excerpts:
Q How do you react to being accused of Madan Tamang's murder?
A: I have been charged with his killing by the state government, whom we do not believe. So we are not taking it seriously. Do they have any evidence of my involvement? Let them prove it first, though I know they can manufacture evidence. They are very good at that.
Q Whom do you suspect killed Madan Tamang and why?
A: We strongly suspect the hand of the Buddha administration behind the killing. They are keeping an eye on the 2011 Assembly election so that the Left Front can try to make a comeback in North Bengal riding the plank of Tamang's killing. The security arrangement provided to Tamang had so many lapses... it could not have been that these gaping holes in his security were overlooked.... the murder was designed to create chaos in the Hills and derail the statehood movement.
Q But how can the Left Front win an Assembly election riding the wave of protests in North Bengal over Tamang's murder?
A: Miss Mamata Banerjee has taken over the popularity and programmes of the Left Front. So the Marxists are trying to raise emotions over the Tamang killing by saying the Trinamul is hand-in-glove with the GJMM to divide the state. This campaign, they believe, may help them back to power.
Q What if GJMM activists are found to be involved in the murder?
A: Let's wait for the findings of the CBI (as demanded by Madan Tamang's widow) and not depend on any report of the CID, which is state government-controlled. I suspect it is to erase evidence of the crime and to delay the investigation that a CBI inquiry has still not been ordered... Surely the state government will concede the CBI is better equipped to probe the murder than the CID?
Q But what if a proposed CBI probe finds GJMM men were involved?
A: Let us not cross the bridge before it comes.
Q After Tamang's murder many of your senior leaders resigned. Why? And then what made them return?
A: They were forced to (quit) by a section of people (who misinformed them about the murder and who was responsible) over the telephone in the hours after the murder. They misunderstood and resigned. But when the true facts came to light they rejoined the party.
Q Are you saying the CPI-M is using the AIGL against you?
A: Absolutely! The AIGL is being used against us to destroy our movement. During the last tripartite meeting, we had staged a walkout, so the CPI-M has no alternative left but to divide the Hill people and make them fight against each other. 

Video of Tamang killing posted on YouTube 

A grab of the video posted on YouTube shows a person wearing a yellow jacket who is believed to be one of the killers of Tamang

ENS, Kolkata: A video purportedly showing the killing of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang on May 21 in Darjeeling has been uploaded on video-sharing website Youtube by a French tourist who filmed it from his hotel window. The tourist has posted the 2 minute 37 second video under the title ‘Madan Taman meurtre (killing) Darjeeling’.
The video, which was uploaded on the day of the killing, shows a man in a yellow jacket with a ‘khukri’ in hand running to where Tamang is lying in a pool of blood, looking at him for a moment and then running away after nearly colliding with another man. A comment below the video said that the man in the yellow jacket probably went back to make sure that Tamang was dead.
The police suspect the incident of killing had also been captured on camera but the tourist had edited it. “If somebody has taken the photos, he or she should come forward and share that with us. However, though we are looking into all aspects, we are still treating this incident of video-recording as a rumour,” DGP Bhupinder Singh said.