Kolkata:
Bimal Gurung, the chief of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) and head of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) that runs Darjeeling, has been charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and rioting with deadly weapons in the Madan Tamang murder case.
22 other top leaders of the GJMM have also been named in the final supplementary chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today, including Mr Gurung's wife Asha who heads the GJMM's women's wing, general secretary Roshan Giri and legislator from Kalimpong Harka Bahadur Chettri.
Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang was stabbed to death in broad daylight in Darjeeling in May 2010 even as he was preparing to address a public meeting. A group of men attacked him with knives in front of television cameras there to record the public rally. Madan Tamang was rushed to hospital but was declared dead. He supported the demand for Gorkhaland but was opposed to Bimal Gurung and the use of violence to achieve a separate state.
The case had originally been handed over to the state police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Several arrests were made, including prime accused Nicole Tamang. In August 2010, however, after Nicole Tamang mysteriously disappeared from police custody, the case was handed over to the CBI.
In Darjeeling, the GJMM has reportedly called for an emergency meeting tomorrow.
The CBI had earlier filed a chargesheet against 31 persons.
In its press release on today's chargesheet, the CBI says, "The public is reminded that the above findings are based on the investigation done by CBI and evidence collected by it. Under the Indian Law, the accused are presumed to be innocent till their guilt is finally established after a fair trial."