Mob storms cop outpost after clash - 9 parishad members arrested for attack on morcha leader’s house

The blockade set up at Gurdwara More by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad. Picture by Anirban Choudhury TT, Hasimara, Nov. 9: Police burst nine tear-gas shells and resorted to lathicharge early this morning when supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad stormed a police outpost demanding the release of their leader and eight others who were arrested after three houses were ransacked last night at a tea garden in Jaigaon. The Parishad called a strike in the Hasimara area, 40km from Alipurduar town, after the police dispersed the crowd around 4am, and set up road blockades at three points on NH31C causing traffic to come to a total standstill for almost 12 hours. Communication between north Bengal and Assam — NH31C connects the two regions — was cut off because of the blockades at Gurdwara More, Hasimara Chowpathy and Nimati Chowpathy from 7am to 6.30pm. Heavy vehicles like trucks remained stranded along the national highway. Most cars to Assam, however, took the Alipurduar-Falakata route, which joins NH31C at Dhupguri. But Jaigaon, Kalchini block and Madarihat were out of bounds till the blockades were lifted. The Parishad members were demanding the unconditional release of those arrested. The Parishad’s Hasimara-Jaigaon zonal committee president, Raju Bara, and eight others were produced in court and were remanded in 14 days of judicial custody by the additional chief judicial magistrate of Alipurduar. Police sources said after midnight Parishad activists attacked the house of the vice-president of the Jaigaon branch of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Indra Bahadur Chhetri, for campaigning for the party-backed independent candidate for Saturday’s Kalchini byelections. Police said the Parishad had brought out everything from Indra Bahadur’s house at Bharnobari tea garden, including a refrigerator, and smashed them with lathis. Raju Bara and the others were arrested from the spot by a force from the Hasimara outpost. Indra Bahadur was not at home at that time, the police said. Soon, in retaliation, Morcha supporters attacked the houses of Bharat Chhetri and Ashit Thapa in the same garden and completely damaged the furniture, television sets and a motorcycle. Meena Thapa, still cowering from last night’s experience, said her husband Ashit had managed to flee the spot. “I had taken shelter in one of the rooms of our house with my two children and managed to lock ourselves in. They banged on the door but I did not come out,” she said.According to garden workers, both Bharat and Ashit, were with the RSP once but had recently turned towards the Parishad whose members were at a majority in Bharnobari. “The Morcha supporters who attacked their houses believed that the attack on Indra Bahadur’s house was provoked by them,” a garden worker said. At 3.30am today, over 200 Parishad supporters arrived at the Hasimara outpost and demanded the release of Raju Bara and the others. When they tried to enter the outpost forcefully, the police resorted to lathicharge and burst tear-gas shells. The subdivisional police officer of Alipurduar, Pradeep Dutta, said nine persons had been arrested for the attack on Indra Bahadur’s house. “There was a huge mob at the Hasimara police outpost and they attacked with bows and arrows and tried to enter forcefully so tear-gas shells were burst and the mob dispersed after a lathicharge,” Dutta said. However, he did not respond to queries about the attack on the houses of Bharat and Ashit. Indra Bahadur alleged that the Parishad had taken “revenge” for canvassing for a Morcha-supported candidate. “I have lodged a complaint with the Hasimara outpost after the attack. My wife was running a fever and had a lucky escape,” he said. Sandeep Ekka, the Parishad’s zonal secretary, denied the charges levelled against those arrested. “We demand the unconditional release of our people whom the police have arrested on false charges. In protest, we have called a strike in the Hasimara area today,” he said. Ashit said he had distanced himself from politics and had left the RSP. “I did not work for any candidate and last night my house was attacked without provocation,” he said. He added that he, too, had filed a complaint around noon today about his house being attacked and his belongings damaged.