Supreme Court warning to Pro & Anti Gorkhaland agitators

PTI, New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday warned pro and anti-Gorkhaland agitators that blockade of National Highway, the economic lifeline for Sikkim, would bring serious consequences including "de-recognition" of political parties and arrest of their leaders.

"Any further obstruction or blockade of NH 31A by pro or anti-Gorkhaland agitators will bring serious  consequences, including the detention of their leaders," a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan said.

"If anybody causes obstruction on the national highway, the party indulging in it would be de-recognised and their leaders will be arrested," the Bench said while reminding the political parties involved in pro and anti-Gorkhaland agitations about its July 3, 2008 order to keep the highway free from their agitation.

It noted that the highway not only connects Sikkim to the rest of the country but also passes through several districts and hilly places like Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Bihar in West Bengal to ensure supply of essential goods to the hilly region. 

Sikkim government had last month moved the apex court against frequent blockade of the highway seeking a direction for West Bengal to ensure smooth traffic and freight movement which has bore the brunt of pro and anti-Gorkhaland protests. 

24-hour transport strike

TT, Darjeeling, Jan. 25: The All Transport Joint Action Committee has announced a 24-hour transport strike on January 28 in the area that it wants as Gorkhaland. The area includes Siliguri and the Terai and the Dooars.

According to a notice issued by the committee today, the strike is being called to protest the harassment faced by the drivers from police in the plains.

GNLF show against attack

GNLF supporters shout slogans at the Panighata police outpost on Monday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo TT, Siliguri, Jan. 25: Nearly 1,000 supporters of the GNLF today took out a procession in Panighata to protest the attack on three of its leaders allegedly by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha members two days ago. The protesters also laid siege to the Panighata police outpost, 40km from here, for more than 30 minutes and withdrew after officials assured them that appropriate measures would be taken against the culprits. The Morcha too gheraoed Darjeeling and Mirik police stations for half an hour from noon today. “Every time someone’s house or property is damaged, we are blamed. The police should be careful that our innocent members and sympathisers are not harassed,” said I.M. Pakhrin, a Morcha central committee member. On Saturday, A.B. Thapa, accompanied by Yamlal Lama and N.B Pradhan were returning after attending a funeral of a teacher in Okayati Tea Estate on the outskirts of Mirik, when a gang, alleged to be Morcha supporters, attacked them. All the three were injured with Thapa, who is in his seventies, being wounded on the eyes. He is under treatment at a private nursing home here. The GNLF’s Terai committee convener Rajen Mukhia had assisted the three to a nearby health centre and also filed a complaint with police, naming four Morcha leaders and some others. The Morcha has denied the charges. Today while gheraoing the Panighata outpost, GNLF leaders shouted anti-Morcha slogans and accused the party of organising attacks on their leaders. “We will not tolerate any more attacks on our leaders and supporters and want the police and administration to take immediate action and put the guilty Morcha supporters behind bars,” Mukhia said. “It is surprising that despite the atrocities unleashed, no step has been taken against any Morcha supporter or leader.” The procession travelled through Panighata and ended at the police outpost. Close by, some Morcha supporters were on relay hunger strike. Schoolgirls seated on a makeshift dais and on fast watched as GNLF supporters shouted slogans. A wall of policemen separated the two groups. A delegation of GNLF members was allowed to enter the outpost to submit a memorandum. “We were there for about 30-40 minutes and withdrew after the officer-in-charge assured us that they would conduct raids to nab the culprits,” Mukhia said. He added that his party would wait for a week or so, and if there were no results, they would resume their movement. D.P Singh, the superintendent of police of Darjeeling, said raids were on, but no one has been arrested. Telangana Flags On R- Day PTI, Hyderabad Jan 25 The all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee(JAC) today asked supporters of the demand for a separate state to hoist Telangana flags on the Republic Day tomorrow at places where relay hunger strikes are being observed. "We have asked Telangana supporters to hoist Telangana flags at JAC camps as a symbolic expression of our demand,"JAC ConvenerC Kodandaram said. He also asked Telangana leaders to undertake rallies and mass relay hunger strikes on January 27 and 28 as part of the ongoing agitation for separate Telangana. Meanwhile, the JAC set up an office here to effectively conduct its activities. Six from Sikkim killed in collision - Two children only survivors of family on way to wedding The mangled car and the truck with which it had collided at Kanki on Monday. Picture by Mehedi Hedaytullah TT, Islampur, Jan. 25: A Sikkim-based businessman and four of his family members were killed today when the Bolero in which they were travelling to a relative’s wedding collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction at Kanki. Two children, aged nine and 10, are the only survivors of the crash that also killed the driver of the car. The car had switched lanes on NH31 to avoid traffic congestion caused by a truck that had overturned on the road. At 7am, when the accident occurred, there was dense fog. Sunil Das, who has a shop in Kanki Bazaar, was on his way to open his store when he saw the white Bolero streak past and smash into the speeding truck coming from Dalkhola or the opposite direction. “I had closed my eyes at the last moment. The noise of metal screeching against metal made me realise that the worst had happened,” said Das. The noise brought out many people out of their houses and Kanki police outpost was informed. The local people helped police bring out the dead and the injured. Among the dead is the Singtam unit president of the Bihari Jagran Manch Ram Bhajan Prasad, 53, his wife Mina Devi, 40, and the couple’s 15-year-old daughter Sabita. The other three dead persons have been identified as the wife of Prasad’s nephew, Parvati, 35, his neighbour Kailash Devi, 35, and the driver of the car, Vikash Dorgi, 23. Parvati’s daughter Dali, 9, and Kailash’s 10-year-old child Manisha have been admitted to M.G.M. Hospital at Kishanganj in Bihar, 17km from the spot on NH31 where the accident occurred. While three persons died on the spot, the others succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. Sources in the police said the family, which runs grocery stores in Sikkim, originally is from Chhapra in Bihar where they were headed this morning to attend a wedding. The secretary of the Bihari Mancha’s Singtam unit, Subhas Prasad, who arrived at the hospital at Kishanganj, said the family had set out from their home for Chhapra at 2am. The two children were shifted to a Siliguri nursing home late in the evening. “They have suffered head injuries. But they have not been told about the death of their mothers or the other relatives,” Subhas Prasad said over the phone. Officer-in-charge of Chakulia police station Madhab Das said the bodies had been sent to Kishanganj hospital for post-mortem. Das said the truck driver had fled the area, leaving his vehicle behind. The subdivisional police officer of Islampur, Indra Chakraborty, said: “The Bolero, which was in high speed, took another lane to avoid the jam caused by an overturned truck. There was dense fog in the area at that time. The Bolero rammed into the truck coming from the opposite direction.” Chakraborty said the bodies would be handed over to the family members this evening after the autopsy.