Kolkata: A sub-inspector was killed and four policemen were injured in cross-firing between police forces and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters loyal to Bimal Gurung, police said early on Friday morning.
According to sources, Amitabha Ghosh, was hit by a bullet and succumbed to his injuries. “Four other policemen are critically injured and have been rushed to a hospital in Siliguri,” a police officer said.
The firing took place around 5 am inside a forest at Lapchey Bustee, which is 20 km away from Darjeeling, when a police team raided GJM chief Bimal Gurung’s hideout and an arms manufacturing unit near Takvar area.
The clashes continued till last reports came in at 9am. A large contingent of police force was rushed to the spot and has started a massive combing operation in the area.
“We received inputs that Bimal Gurung is hiding in the forest near Lapchey Bustee below Patleybas, the headquarters of the GJM. We immediately decided to raid the area but were fired upon,” a senior police officer told News18.
The raid came just a day after an audio message of Gurung surfaced in which he announced that he would return to Darjeeling on October 30. “I will return and prefer to die in front of my people in the Hills. I would love to die for them for a separate state,” he said in the clip.
The most wanted man for the Mamata Banerjee government, he was suspected to be hiding in Sikkim during the 104-day-long bandh that started on June 15. The fresh clashes in the area were witnessed sixteen days after the indefinite strike was called off.
For the last four months, Darjeeling has been gripped by a severe crisis as Morcha leaders were demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland. A series of violent protests were reported in these months. Since June 8, 12 persons have died and several have been injured.
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