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| Left GJM chief Bimal Gurung, Right Madan Tamang Man Murdered in Broad Daylight |
Filed before a city court, the charge sheet indicted Gurung — also the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) chief, his wife Asha Gurung, party general secretary Roshan Giri and GTA chairman Pradip Pradhan among others for various offences including murder.
“In all, 14 people have been named today (Friday) in the final supplementary charge sheet. The offences include criminal conspiracy for murder, rioting armed with deadly weapons, committing murder,” said a CBI official.
Others named in the charge sheet include GJM vice president Benoy Tamang, party MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri, GTA deputy chief executive Ramesh Alley and Gurung’s two close associates – Dinesh Singh and Devendra Sharma.
The CBI, which has been probing the case since 2011, earlier charge-sheeted 31 accused.
ABGL president Tamang was stabbed to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010.
“The accused named in the final chargesheet today have been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy,” said a CBI officer. “There is specific evidence against each of those named and we will furnish them during trial,” the officer added.
The late ABGL chief’s widow, Bharati Tamang, who leads the party now, had also pleaded before the high court that the case be shifted out of Darjeeling, saying a fair trial was not possible there.
Morcha general secretary Giri, when asked about today’s chargesheet, said: “We will first consult our lawyers before making any statement.”
The ABGL leadership demanded the immediate arrest of the Morcha leaders.
“The chargesheet has shown that none is above the law and it shows that the Morcha leadership is involved. We are told that these leaders have been shown as absconders in the chargesheet. We demand their immediate arrest,” said Pratap Khati, the general secretary of the ABGL.
He added: “Since these leaders are influential, we demand that trial should be held in custody.”
Of the 31 named in the chargesheets of the CBI and the CID, Dinesh Subba is untraceable. Another accused, Dil Kumar Rai, was found murdered near Darjeeling on December 28, 2011.
Sangay Yolmo, another accused, is bed-ridden. Yolmo was hit by a bullet during a clash on the day Madan Tamang was assassinated. The bullet pierced his spine, making him paralytic.
The rest are out on bail.
Source: business-standard.com / Telegraph
