KOLKATA: A lesser-known Gorkha outfit on Thursday claimed responsibility for all the IED bomb blasts that have killed and injured several persons in different parts of the Darjeeling hills. They also warned that they would bomb the houses of politicians who try to 'sell out'.
In a pink-coloured poster, the outfit 'Gorkhaland Liberation Army' (GLA) warned not to spare any political party that they claimed have betrayed the Gorkhaland cause.
The poster read, "GLA can go to any extent to fulfil our demand of a separate state. Even if we have to die, we will. We won't spare any traitor or party be GNLF (Gorkha National Liberation Front), JAP (Jan Andolan Party), TMC (Trinamool Congress) or GJM (Gorkha Janmukti Morcha). You all are indulged in corruption, and now you people are speaking against the Gorkha well-being while the people are struggling for so long."
"We will bomb the house of any politician who sells out. All the blasts that have taken place were done by GLA. We won't tolerate the brutality of the West Bengal government. People need not fear. GLA has been formed across Gorkhaland region, and GLA is not affiliated to any political party but has been formed by the fighters to struggle for the Gorkhaland. GLA is not anti-national but is formed by those who love our land," it added.
The poster was signed off with a 'Jai Gorkha, Jai Gorkhaland, GLA Zindabad'.
A poster signed by 'GJM/Maoist' had called for an armed struggle for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling on July 29. However, the spelling mistakes in Nepali in the previous poster raised doubts over its authenticity. Unlike the previous poster, Thursday's poster was written in chaste Nepali.
Speaking to the New Indian Express, Darjeeling SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi said that the GLA is a creation of GJM supremo Bimal Gurung and they may have links with the Nepali Maoists.
What is GLA?
GLA's name first surfaced during recovery of a huge cache of arms in Chirang district of Assam in November 2014. Questioning of the two arrested persons revealed that the arms were meant for Darjeeling.
Interrogation also revealed the name of GJM leader Sanjay Thulung who is absconding since then.
The two arrested persons also claimed that at least 15 men of Gorkha Personnel (an outfit raised by GJM) had taken arms training in Nagaland with an aim to wage an armed movement for creation of Gorkhaland.
Two persons nabbed in Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border in June also claimed to be operatives of GLA.