West Bengal CID arrests GJM activist for allegedly attacking police during last year's Gorkhaland stir

Kolkata: The West Bengal CID on Wednesday arrested a GJM activist for his alleged involvement in an attack on the police during a procession with the body of a youth killed allegedly in police firing in Darjeeling last year, an official said. [caption id=“attachment_4318819” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) activist Dawa Sherpa was arrested from Bagdogra airport area, a senior CID officer told PTI on Wednesday night. “We had information that he was coming to Bagdogra. We laid a trap and nabbed the man who has been named in the case lodged at Sadar police station,” he said. “The accused reached here from Darjeeling and was probably trying to escape. We are interrogating him,” the CID officer said, adding that Sherpa was also wanted in other cases related to Gorkhaland agitation. On 8 June last year, the West Bengal government had to summon the army to contain violence after GJM supporters clashed with police and set vehicles on fire when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was holding a Cabinet meeting in Darjeeling. The hills witnessed a long spell of unrest after the GJM called for an indefinite shutdown to press its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. The shutdown was called off on 27 September after 104 days, in response to an appeal by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Tashi Bhutia was allegedly shot dead by the security forces on 7 July when he had ventured out to purchase medicines at Sonada. As news of the death spread the next day, hundreds of Gorkhaland supporters came out on the streets and raised slogans against alleged “police atrocities”. They clashed with the police and set on fire a police outpost at Sonada and the toy train station of the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railways, a UNESCO World Heritage site.