Darjeeling
28 Sep 2013
Students and the general public clashed
with the police Saturday evening following reports of a rape attempt on a
minor by a jawan of the Rapid Action Force at Ghoom-Bhanjyang, about
16km from Darjeeling town.
The police had to fire three blank
rounds and resort to lathicharge in the main town area to disperse the
agitated mob. Media personnel were also lathicharged and their vehicles
damaged, resulting in injuries to at least one journalist.
The incident started when a section of
the crowd that had gathered to protest the rape attempt tried to torch a
police van parked outside the police station. They failed in the
attempt, but managed to set ablaze a state bus.
Arun Prawanik of the 2nd RAF Battalion
from Barrackpore has been arrested on charges of wrongful restraint and
assault or criminal force with intent to molest the 16-year-old.
“We have arrested Prawanik, who was
stationed at Ghoom-Bhanjyang, on molestation charges. He will be
produced before Darjeeling court tomorrow,” informed Darjeeling SP Kunal
Agarwal.
The victim, a resident of Barbattey
Busty, has been admitted at the Darjeeling district hospital. Unable to
bear the trauma, she fainted when media persons reached the hospital to
seek her statement.
Meanwhile, tension built up in the
evening in town with both the agitators and police pelting stones at
each other. Heavy central forces have been deployed and raids launched
to nab the agitators, mostly youths.
The Gorkha Janmukti Vidhyarthi Morcha,
the student wing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, has called a bandh on
Sunday to protest the molestation and lathicharge incidents.
Students and the general public together
asked markets and business establishments in the afternoon to close
down and blocked the Hill Cart Road for a while.
“The bandh will continue tomorrow to
condemn the rape attempt on the girl student and police atrocity.
Students will organise rallies on Monday in all the three sub-divisions
to condemn today’s incidents,” said a GJVM leader not wanting to be
named.
Naren Subba, uncle of the victim, said,
“My niece had forgotten it was an off today and left for school as
usual. On seeing the school closed, she headed back home around nine
thirty in the morning and when she approached a densely forested area
near Ghoom-Bhanjyang, a RAF jawan in plain clothes stopped her abruptly.
He asked my niece to befriend him and then started molesting her.”
He added, “My niece started screaming
and tried to run away with the jawan in hot pursuit. Had it not been for
some passers-by, anything could have happened. They nabbed the culprit
and handed him over to the Jorebungalow police station.”
GJM leaders have condemned the incident
and have faxed a letter to the Union home minister to recall the central
forces from the hills.
GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said,
“We strongly condemn the incident and demand justice for the girl.
Today’s incident proves the security forces deployed in the hills are
only creating trouble and disturbances. As such, we have asked the
centre to remove them at the earliest. People now have lost faith on the
administration.”
When asked about the bandh call, he said, “The bandh was called spontaneously by students and the public in protest.”
A two-hour road blockade was also staged in Kurseong sub-division to condemn the incident.
Meanwhile, reports have come of
unidentified people trying to set ablaze the police out-post near
Singamari around seven thirty in the evening. Police personnel doused
the fire and fired three rounds in the air. There were no reports of
injury or damage to property.
Further, it is learnt the police
detained GJM assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai and several other party
cadres late in the evening.
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