April 6: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today accused the Bengal government and minister Asok Bhattacharya of trying to indict the party in the twin blasts in Champasari that killed three alleged explosive makers last week. The Morcha has demanded that the probe be handed over to a central agency.
The charges follow 24 hours after Bhattacharya said in Siliguri that insurgent groups, in association with some parties in north Bengal, were trying to spread tension and that the IEDs were meant to be used in the subdivision.
Police on the other hand said Dipen Rai, one of the accused in the blast and the only one to escape alive from the house where the IEDs went off, has revealed that he was waiting for instructions that would have arrived on April 9. The instructions would have told him the target. The police said the timer devices suggested that the IEDs would have gone off in the next five-six days. [Morcha supporters walk through Gurung Busty in Siliguri with lighted candles]
The Siliguri Municipal Corporation is expected to hold a public convention on April 10 to garner public opinion against the Morcha demand to make the subdivision a part of Gorkhaland. The Morcha had earlier announced that it would oppose the SMC convention and has planned a hunger strike against it in Siliguri and the Dooars. Read the rest of this entry »
