KOLKATA: A major haul of 609 gelatin sticks, 200 detonators and 630 metre of codrex wire from a Nepali couple and an Indian man in the Pradhannagar area of Siliguri on Sunday has opened up a can of worms and put a big question mark on whether the Gorkhaland statehood movement is arming itself again, as it did during the later half of the 1980s.
After being tipped off, CID West Bengal arrested the three persons on Sunday. Their location was determined by the CID after interrogation of Bijay Rai Thulung, brother of Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) member Sanjay Rai Thulung, sources revealed.
Bijay, who was wanted in a 2014 case of smuggling of an AK-22 weapon and ammunition from Nagaland into Darjeeling, was arrested recently. Sanjay Rai may have taken shelter in Nepal. A sedition charge has been pressed against Bijay.
It has been revealed during the investigation that the three arrested persons worked in the coal mines of Meghalaya, where they procured the explosives after coming in contact with Garo militants.
Arms training of Gorkha youth in Nagaland
The trio as well as Bijay Rai have claimed during interrogation that several youths from Darjeeling hills have gone to Nagaland for training in arms and have returned.
"The batches may have gone in small groups and have received training in arms and handling of explosives in Nagaland, which came up during the interrogation," an official in state police headquarters Lalbazaar told Express on strict condition of anonymity.
"The explosives may also be linked to the Maoists of Nepal. Nepal Maoists are not new to the region," he added.
CID West Bengal has informed the Indian Army and Meghalaya police of the nabbing. The involvement of a GTA member and northeast rebel groups have made the waters murkier, which is becoming a cause of concern for the administration.
Arms for demolishing GTA 'compromise'?
When Gorkha Territorial Administration was formed in 2012 to provide limited autonomy to Darjeeling hills in the name of transferring 'administrative powers', it was seen by Trinamool think tanks as a successful tactic to 'contain' the Gorkhaland statehood movement.
Though initially welcomed by the people of Darjeeling hills as it brought an end to the endless dharnas in the district, soon the GTA was mired in controversies and allegations of graft. However, for many hardcore Gorkhaland movement activists, GTA was a rude 'compromise'. Nothing short of full statehood was welcome for them.
With GTA chief Bimal Gurung's decline in popularity due to allegations of graft, aided by Mamata Banerjee's successful social engineering through ethnic boards and bringing the influential leader Harka Bahadur Chetri to her side with his new Jana Andolan Party (JAP), many youths passionate for the statehood movement got disillusioned with the way the movement was being steered.
"Some disillusioned Gorkha youth may think that armed struggle would give them more voice and they don't have to kneel down at the whims and wishes of the older generation of Gorkhaland activists," a political observer of the Gorkhaland movement told Express.
The otherwise non-violent movement saw a phase of armed struggle during the later half of the 1980s. Military was deployed to 'control' the movement and many atrocities were committed in the name of counter-insurgency. The movement became non-violent again after an agreement but the fight for Gorkhaland continued.