Morcha to close block offices in hills - Gurung to meet interlocutor in Darjeeling today

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Nov. 1: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today announced that it would lock all the block development offices across the hills from November 7 even as the interlocutor for the talks involving the Centre, the state government and the party arrived here. “However, we have decided to exempt those sections which deal with registration and issuing of birth and death certificates at the BDO offices from the agitation,” said Binay Tamang, the assistant general secretary of the Morcha. The move is expected to paralyse administrative and development works in rural areas. Bimal Gurung, the president of the Morcha, had announced one week back that all panchayat offices would be closed indefinitely from November 7 as part of its non-co-operation movement. The party has also decided to close down all the liquor offshops in the hills from the same date and asked business establishments to use the word “Gorkhaland” on their signboards. Lt Gen. (retd) Vijay Madan, who had been appointed the interlocutor to look into the demands of the Morcha, arrived in Darjeeling yesterday. The decision to appoint the interlocutor had been agreed to at the third rounds of talks among the Central and state governments and the Morcha in Delhi on August 11. The Union home ministry had announced Madan’s appointment on October 23. According to sources, Roshan Giri, general secretary of the Morcha, along with the party’s central committee members Amar Lama and Asha Gurung, met Madan in Darjeeling last evening. “It was basically a courtesy call,” said a Morcha source. A meeting between Gurung and Madan has been fixed at a Darjeeling hotel at 3pm tomorrow. “The meeting has been confirmed,” admitted Tamang. Gurung is expected to reach Darjeeling late this evening after his five-day tour of Sandakphu-Rimbick. According to government sources, Madan will be leaving Darjeeling on November 3. His visit is seen as a move to prepare the groundwork for the next tripartite meeting scheduled to be held in Darjeeling on December 21. Gurung had already announced that he would intensify the agitation and impose “home rule and declare “Gorkhaland”, if the December talks were not fruitful. The closure of the BDO offices is likely to affect the Central government’s 100-day work programme and projects like construction of roads. The BDO offices look into every aspect of development in rural areas like the implementation of the Indira Awaas Yojna, under which houses are built for people below poverty line. Mamata, Gurung get the Maoist blame SNS, JALPAIGURI, 1 NOV: The state urban development minister, Mr Asok Bhattacharya today said that the Trinamul supremo, Miss Mamata Banarjee and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha president, Mr Bimal Gurung were reponsible for the continuing Maoist movement in Lalgarh. Addressing an election meeting for the RSP candidate for Kalchini, Mr Binay Bhushan Kerketta at Jaigaon today, Mr Bhattacharya said that the state government had evidences galore to prove the point. “The Maoists, the Trinamul and the GJMM activists are working in tandem to destabilize peace in the state. Ms Banerjee and Mr Gurung selected the same day for extending support to the Maoists backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committe at Lalgarh. “Moving a step further to show sympathy for the extremist-backed movement the GJMM convened a strike in the Dooars around the same time. This is a deadly alliance as far as peace in the northern and the southern tips of the state is concerned,” said Mr Bhattacharya. The state PWD minister, Mr Khsiti Goswami and the state jail minister, Mr Biswanath Chowdhury also addressed the meeting. The leaders assured the people that the state government would convert Jaigaon into a municipality soon after the by-election was over. Meanwhile the GJMM and the Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad also held election meetings at Jaigaon today in support of the independent candidates being backed by them. The GJMM general secretary, Mr Roshan Giri said that his organization, though engrossed somehow in the Gorkhaland movement, would continue fighting for the rights of the tea plantation workers irrespective of ethnic considerations. “We have selected an Adivasi as our candidate for the by-election to drive home this point. The Left Front candidate must be defeated to pave way for speedy development of the long neglected region,” he said. Meanwhile, the state industry minister, Mr Nirupam Som said that the Trinamul leaders were intentionally frightening people by raising land acquisition bogey at Rajgunj. He was addressing a Left Front rally at Rajgunj today where the by-election would be held on 7 November along with Kalchini. Kin protest custody death TT, Darjeeling, Nov. 1: Relatives of a youth, who had died in police custody at Sonada outpost, today did not allow the body to be taken to Siliguri after a three-member medical board formed by Darjeeling Sadar Hospital referred it for autopsy. Pradip Chettri, a small time businessman, was arrested on Friday night and booked under Section 34 (creating nuisance in public place) of the IPC following his wife Sunita’s complaint. Around 2am yesterday, the police informed Sunita that her husband had committed suicide inside the cell. The police had said Pradip hanged himself with a wire they had apparently kept on the cell’s roof. The cell is about 7ft high. But the relatives refused to buy the version and angry residents resorted to a violent protest yesterday. Hospital superintendent Ranajit Ghosh said: “The three-member board consisting of two surgeons and a medical officer examined the body this morning and unanimously decided that an opinion of a forensic expert was needed.” Ghosh admitted that the case was sensitive. The body was referred to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. The autopsy report is crucial since the relatives along with residents of Sonada, situated 18km from here, have alleged that the police had beaten the 35-year-old to death on Saturday while in custody. “We will not allow the body to be taken down to Siliguri as this is a ploy to cover up the incident. There are no injury marks on the deceased’s neck and there is also a fresh injury mark on his head,” alleged Youraj Sharma, Pradip’s brother. A.K. Chaturvedi, the additional superintendent of police of Darjeeling, who has been asked to conduct an inquiry, said: “The relatives have refused to allow the body to be taken down. The inquiry report will take a few days.” The body was at the morgue till late in the evening. The relatives have urged the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to take up the matter.