Chettri in hospital. Picture by Vivek Singh

Kurseong, April 8: The GNLF has demanded a magisterial inquiry into yesterday’s attack on its supporters near Jorebunglow.

“The incident took place in broad daylight and yet police failed to protect our supporters. We demand a magisterial inquiry failing which we will launch an agitation,” said I.N. Pradhan, the GNLF’s Kurseong branch president.

Pradhan today submitted a memorandum to subdivisional officer Dipyendu Das and subdivisional police officer Rakesh Singh in Kurseong.

Eleven people from Jorebunglow, 20km from here, were arrested today and booked under Sections 148 (rioting) and 149 (looting) of the IPC, both non-bailable. The Darjeeling district and sessions court remanded the accused in jail custody till April 15.

Morcha spokesperson Binay Tamang refused to comment on yesterday’s incident. “The police have arrested innocent people. We will call a bandh in the hills if they are not released,” he said.

Around 100 GNLF supporters returning to Kurseong after meeting party chief Subash Ghisingh in Darjeeling were attacked allegedly by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha members. Ten GNLF supporters were injured, four vehicles damaged and a Maruti van pushed down the hillside.

Sanjay Chettri, a GNLF leader and the former vice-chairman of the Kurseong municipality, was one of the injured. “Around 400 people had gathered near Jorebunglow with gun, hockey sticks, and rods. This proves that they had planned the attack,” said Chettri today. He was travelling in a Maruti van with Palden Dorjee Bhutia and Nima Namgyal Lepcha, both councillors of the civic body here.

The GNLF denied the charge of tearing the rival party’s flags or shouting slogans against Bimal Gurung, the Morcha president. “We went up (to Darjeeling) silently and came down in a similar way. If we had torn the flags, they (Morcha supporters) would have attacked us while going up,” asked Bhutia.