Darjeeling unrest: Eight accused in murder case of Madan Tamang claim false implication

Kolkata: Eight women, accused in the murder case of All India Gorkha League (AIGL) leader Madan Tamang, on Thursday claimed before a court here that they had been falsely implicated in the case and that the CBI could not furnish any concrete evidence against them. Contending that mere suspicion could not be the basis for framing charge against any accused, their counsel Tirthankar Ghosh submitted before City Sessions Court Chief Judge Kundan Kumar Kumai that the eight women should be discharged from the case. [caption id=“attachment_3879563” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] “So far as the women accused are concerned, there is nothing against them to implicate them for criminal conspiracy, common intention or criminal intimidation as alleged by the CBI,” he told the court. Ghosh claimed that while there was no proper allegation against Sushma Rai, Urmila Rumba and Kavita Dahal, the charges against Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s women’s wing chief Asha Gurung, Sandhya Gurung, Anita Lakhandri, Babita Ganguly and Sona Sherpa were unsubstantiated. He claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) case appeared to be that Tamang believed in democracy, while the GJM did not, and added that the prosecution’s case was based on the “alleged political animosity” between Tamang’s AIGL and the GJM. The CBI has claimed that it was a premeditated murder to prevent any other political party from holding meetings or rallies in the Darjeeling hills, where the GJM held sway through “coercive” measures. AIGL chief Tamang was attacked with sharp weapons when he was overseeing the preparations for a public meeting at the Clubside, at the heart of Darjeeling town, on 21 May, 2010, and was declared brought dead at the Sadar Hospital there. The City Sessions Court is hearing arguments for framing of charges against the 46 accused for criminal conspiracy and murder of Tamang. The CBI has prayed for framing of charges against the accused, among whom are the top brass of the GJM, including its president Bimal Gurung, his wife and GJM women’s wing chief Asha, Roshan Giri, Col (retd) Ramesh Alley, former MLA Harka Bahadur Chetri, Binay Tamang and Rabin Subba. The matter will be heard again by the court on Friday.