KOLKATA: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung skipped a public appearance he had promised in Darjeeling Hills on Monday.
The Gorkha leader, who is in hiding since a raid on his Patlaybas residence in mid-June, had promised through an audio-clip released on October 12 that he would appear before the public in Darjeeling district on October 30.
The next day, on October 13, the West Bengal police claimed they were tipped off about an infiltration attempt by the GJM supremo and his supporters from his Sikkim hideout into Darjeeling, which allegedly led to the encounter in Tukvar that claimed the life of sub-inspector Amitava Malik and led to recovery of a huge cache of automatic weapons, ammunition and gelatin sticks. However, Gurung later claimed that the weapons belonged to surrendered Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) militants and not his 'boys'.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri said in a statement that Gurung has been advised not to make the promised public appearance as it might give an opportunity to the West Bengal government to jeopardise the proposed talks with the Centre.
"Respecting the advice, our president has agreed not to make the public appearance he had announced earlier. Prospective dates for his public appearances will be announced soon," Roshan Giri said. However, he refused to divulge as who advised Gurung to continue to stay out of the public.
Giri also claimed to have the support of the Centre. "The central government is very aware of the ground realities (in Darjeeling), which is why they have pulled back central forces from the region, despite desperate attempts by the West Bengal government to continue their deployment in order to keep Gorkhaland supporters living in a state of fear and intimidation," he added.
It was widely speculated that Gurung, who faces charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), murder, rioting and arson, would have publicly surrendered on October 30 in front of the masses to avoid getting killed in an encounter in the forests of Darjeeling or Sikkim. However, that possibility got slim after the October 13 encounter.
On the other hand, Sabita Bhujel, wife of senior GJM leader Barun Bhujel, who died in police custody on October 25, demanded a high-level inquiry into the death of her husband.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, National Human Rights Commission, West Bengal Human Rights Commission and director-general of police Surajit Kar Purakayastha, Sabita Bhujel demanded that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) be formed to investigate all aspects of the circumstances leading to the arrest, detention and death in custody of her husband. She also demanded that the postmortem records be examined by a medical team.
Sabita Bhujel claimed that she was kept in the dark about her husband's deteriorating health and was neither informed when Barun Bhujel was shifted from Siliguri Prison to the Kolkata PG Hospital.