State govt spreading terror in hills: Giri

KURSEONG

15 Sep 2013

State government-sponsored terror is continuing across various places of the hills, claims Gorkha Janmukti Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri.

Speaking to this correspondent over phone, Giri said the state government, led by TMC party activists, is spreading terror all across the region on the pretext of distributing rations in the hills.

He said North Bengal Development minister Gautam Deb on Saturday visited Sitong Lathpanchar area ostensibly to distribute rice and other food items to residents. But in reality, the government is spreading terror by threatening people with arrests to keep GJM supporters silent, claimed Giri.

The GJM general secretary said, “We had visited Sitong-Latpanchar to hold a party meeting among party supporters, but the administration did not grant us permission. The government is stoking fear among people by arresting innocent GJM supporters and this must be stopped immediately.”

Reports say a GJM cadre was arrested from the Shelpu Sittong area on Saturday, but this is yet to be confirmed by the police.

Notably, Giri is an elected GTA member from the Sitong-Latpanchar area under Kurseong. Many GJM supporters and leaders have been arrested from across the Darjeeling hills over the past one month with more than 1,000 activists presently behind bars.