Contractors who were turned away by the Morcha from the Kalimpong Municipality on Monday. The contractors had been told by chairman C.K. Kumai, a GNLF leader, to collect their payments. The Morcha wants Kumai to resign on the ground that the GNLF does not enjoy the majority anymore. (C.F. Lepcha)

Algarah, May 26: The secretary of the CPM’s Kalimpong zonal committee, Prakash Subba, was arrested today after he allegedly picked up a fight with traders. A departmental inquiry has been initiated against his bodyguard, Mohan Rai, who had threatened a fish seller with his gun last night.

Algarah, which is 16km from Kalimpong, observed a bandh till 3.30pm today to protest against the incident. The shutdown had been called by local traders and supported by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. It was lifted after Subba was arrested.

Eyewitnesses said the incident happened when Subba, who was passing through Algarah late in the evening yesterday, stopped by and sent his bodyguard to purchase fish. Rai soon got into an altercation with the shopkeeper Md Habib over the price. In the heat of the moment, he took out his gun and pointed it at Habib.

A policeman, who was standing nearby intervened and tried to restrain Rai. On seeing the commotion, Subba got out of his vehicle and hauled up the policeman for challenging his bodyguard. He, too allegedly took out a gun and threatened the man in khaki.

At this point, the local people intervened.

“The commotion drew our attention and we rushed to the spot. To ensure that the situation didn’t go out of hand, we prevailed upon Subba to leave the spot immediately,” said another policeman who was present at the spot.

This morning when the news spread that Algarah was observing a strike, Kalyan Dewan, the president of the Morcha’s Kalimpong unit, reached the spot to get a first-hand account of the incident.

“It is apparent that Subba was responsible for creating a nuisance. We have issued an ultimatum to the administration to arrest the culprits before 3pm, failing which we will call a bandh in Kalimpong tomorrow,” Dewan had said a little later.

However, before the Morcha could act on its threat, Subba was picked up. “He has been arrested and the law will take its own course after we complete the investigation,” said a senior police official in Kalimpong.

Tara Sundas, a member of the Kalimpong zonal committee of the CPM, said Subba’s arrest had nothing to do with the party. “It was Subba’s personal case,” he said.