CPM supporters take out a rally in Siliguri on Tuesday to protest against Dinesh Gurung’s announcement that his NGO would occupy the party office in Darjeeling.Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Kalimpong, Aug. 5: The youth and women wings of the CPRM have decided to call a bandh in the Darjeeling hills to protest against the continuous detention of Chattrey Subba and five others in the Jalpaiguri jail for allegedly masterminding the assassination attempt on GNLF chief Subash Ghisingh near Kurseong in 2001.

The six have been behind bars without trial for over seven years.

The central committee members of the Democratic Revolutionary Youth Front (DRYF) and Democratic Revolutionary Women’s Front (DRWF) will meet in Darjeeling on August 9 to decide on the date of the bandh.

“We will call it before August 22, the next date of hearing of Chattrey’s trial,” said Santosh Pradhan, the Kalimpong unit president of the DRYF.

The decision to call a shutdown comes a day after the hearing was deferred by a Jalpaiguri court again today.

Pradhan alleged the “illegal detention” of the six is proof of the Bengal government’s policy to suppress the democratic rights of the Gorkha people.

“The government wants to make an example out of Chattrey so that no one dares to raise the voice for Gorkhaland,” he added.