Bengal starts dropping cases against Gurung
The West Bengal government has started withdrawing criminal cases slapped against Bimal Gurung, president of one of the two factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), and hundreds of his followers who took part in the 2017 Gorkhaland movement that witnessed violence, said lawyers aware of the developments.
Charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Gurung appeared in public last year after remaining underground for three years and offered to support chief minister Mamata Banerjee and help her win the assembly seats in Darjeeling and other parts of north Bengal. He has already been provided security cover by the state.
Pranoy Rai, public prosecutor at Darjeeling district court, said so far around 80 cases have been withdrawn. “More than 156 cases were pending against Gurung. The state law department had asked for my opinion. I gave my view and an application was sent to the governor which is legally required. Around 80 cases have already been withdrawn,” said Rai.
Binoy Tamang, Gurung’s rival and leader of the GJM’s other faction, is an ally of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) since 2017. Tamang, however, is opposed to Gurung’s re-entry in hill politics.
Gurung had earlier supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and helped it win the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat thrice since 2009. After resurfacing in Kolkata on October 21 last year, he took accused the BJP of betraying the Gorkhas.
The process of withdrawal of the cases against Gurung, his supporters and GJM general secretary Roshan Giri has started, said lawyers in Darjeeling.
A senior lawyer, who did not want to be named, said, “It is not Gurung alone who is being spared. Cases against Binoy Tamang and Anit Thapa, general secretary of the other faction, are being withdrawn as well.”
However, Roshan Giri said, “We don’t know anything about this since nothing has been communicated to us officially.”
Meanwhile, BJP state vicepresident Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “Mamata Banerjee is taking desperate measures to win the elections but nothing can change the outcome of the upcoming polls. People have made up their minds.”