Civic police volunteer killed in blast at Kalimpong police station

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India] August 20 (ANI): A civic police volunteer was killed and another policeman was injured in a bomb blast at Kalimpong police station gate on Saturday night.

Ajit Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Kalimpong informed that "major blast occurred near Kalimpong police station which killed one civic police volunteer named Rakesh Raute and one Dendup Bhutia was seriously injured, who has been admitted in a private nursing home in Siliguri".

Goutam Tamang, police constable who was at the spot, told media that blast occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night.

Darjeeling has been witnessing unrest due to the agitation of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which has been demanding separate Gorkhaland state.

Blast at Kalimpong Police Station comes less than 24 hours after a blast in the heart of Darjeeling town.

Police have started a terror case against senior GJM leaders, including its president Bimal Gurung, for Friday night's blast in Darjeeling town.

Bimal Gurung on Saturday wrote a letter to Home Minister Raj Nath Singh regarding an FIR filed against GJM on suspicion of bomb blast in Darjeeling on Friday.

The letter says, "Last night, ie 18th of August, a blast of unknown nature occurred in Darjeeling town, and before anyone can even come to terms with the nature of the blast, the Darjeeling police have rushed in to file an FIR against the GJM President Mr Bimal Gurung and other GJM leaders."

The letter further said the GJM is wondering as to how is it possible that an FIR be filed so early, in such a serious matter, while the investigations have not yet begun.

He also alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleges that the Gorkhaland movement is being supported by China, and the Nepal Maoists, but, "Once again the entire Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (and not just the GJM) asked for proof, and once again the Bengal government failed to provide any proof. We therefore suspect that this blast is the handy work of the Bengal government to bring disrepute to the Gorkhaland cause and our leaders, and to portray our movement as being anti-National."

Adding that since the blast is a national security issue, Gurung requested the Home Minister to constitute a High Level Enquiry Committee immediately, comprising of National Investigative Agency (NIA), with a Supreme Court judge monitoring the entire investigations to ensure fairness of the investigations. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI