Director-General of Police Bhupinder Singh said Special IGP Pankaj Dutta has been sent to Darjeeling and IGP (CID) N N Pande will leave on Tuesday in connection with the probe.
In a setback to the GJM, 10 central committee members, including Morcha press secretary Harka Bahadur Chhetri, resigned over the killing. “The suspicion for the killing points to the GJM. Therefore I am resigning,” Chettri said.
Earlier on Sunday, senior GJM leader Anmol Prasad, who had represented the party at the first four rounds of tripartite talks with the Centre and West Bengal government, also quit citing a similar reason.
Silent funeral procession
Meanwhile, in what could mean tougher days ahead for the GJM, thousands of mourners in Darjeeling poured out on the streets on Monday braving rain and a 12-hour bundh called by the GJM to join the silent funeral procession of slain ABGL president Madan Tamang.
Draped in the party flag, the body of Tamang was taken out from his residence at Rhododendron-del at around 10 am. The massive crowd that included a large number of women, occasionally broke the silence by shouts condemning GJM president Bimal Gurung and general secretary Roshan Giri.
Tamang’s body was first taken to the AIGL party office at Laden-la road in Darjeeling and then, proceeded via Manebhanjan to Tamang’s native village, Meghma, 30 kms away from Darjeeling town, where the cremation took place as per Buddhist norms.
Huge security measures have been taken to ensure that the law and order situation remains calm. According to Inspector-General (North Bengal) K L Tamta, people kept the shutters down voluntarily to pay their last respect to the lone democratic voice in the hills.
The GJM had called a four-hour bundh in Kalimpong, Kurseong and neighbouring areas ostensibly to scuttle people’s response to the funeral procession.
However, the situation turned tense when some members from the procession removed GJM party flags from roadside shops and houses. But timely intervention by police controlled the frayed tempers.
An FIR was also lodged by ABGL general secretary Laxman Pradhan naming Bimal Gurung and Roshan Giri for abetting the ghastly crime. Charges of conspiracy have been brought against the two besides Gurung’s wife Asha among others.
Police have also seized a mobile phone from the spot, which is reported to contain a recording of the voice of a top GJM leader just before the stabbing of Tamang.