The DGHC rest house in Kurseong before being set ablaze (left) and after the attack. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Rohini (Kurseong), Jan. 1: A Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader was beaten to death a little past midnight in Kurseong after seven members of the outfit allegedly thrashed guards of a DGHC rest house when they were denied entry.

The incident, of which two versions are doing the rounds, sparked a Morcha retaliatory attack today at Rohini in Kurseong, where the outfit set fire to the two-year-old rest house and 20 houses.

The Morcha was quick to blame the GNLF. “It is learnt that the attackers were led by Krishna Diyali, a former GNLF gram panchayat member from Rohini who joined the Morcha only a few months ago,” said Binay Tamang, the media and publicity secretary of the outfit.

“It seems they (the attackers) were forced to join us following the GNLF’s loss of face. We now realise that in their heart they were still with the GNLF and it seems they bore a grudge against our leaders,” Tamang added.

Residents of Rohini, however, said the mob attacked the seven when they showed no sign of apology after assaulting the two rest house guards.

This is not the first time Morcha activists have broken into DGHC property. Early last year, some activists seized a DGHC bungalow in Pintail, near Siliguri.

According to the Morcha, the seven activists led by Subodh Pradhan, convener of the outfit’s Giddapahar unit, reached the rest house, about 25km from Siliguri, around 1am.

“We had been to an event at the Simulbari tea estate, close to Rohini…. At night, we decided to stay in Rohini,” said Azam Pradhan, the Mirik zonal secretary of the Darjeeling Terai Dooars Plantation Labour Union, a Morcha affiliate.

Azam, who was injured in the attack and taken to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, said: “We searched for the guards but could not find them. As it was past midnight, we broke the lock and entered the bungalow.”

After about an hour, some 100 residents of Rohini, along with the guards, came to the rest house. “They started abusing us without reason. When we protested, they pounced on us,” said Suraj Subba, general secretary of the tea workers’ union.

Subodh, who tried to resist the mob, was attacked with wooden bed posts. He died on the spot. “They were hurling stones and bricks at us, some others were kicking us. Two people had khukris,” Suraj claimed.

Two Morcha activists, Ramesh Gurung and Shyam Rai, escaped with injures. The others lay bleeding in the rooms.

The residents, however, gave a different version. They said Subodh and his men, all drunk, assaulted the guards — Bimal Diyali and Rajen Senchuri — when they were denied entry. “They then broke into the rest house. They also attacked some of us who intervened but were unapologetic about their actions. This made the people angry,” a resident said.

Around 4am, police from Garidhura outpost in Kurseong, arrived and took away Subodh’s body.

Around noon today, Pradip Pradhan, vice-president of the Morcha and around 50 supporters ransacked the rest house and set it on fire. They also torched 20 houses near it. A truck and a shop owned by guard Bimal Diyali were set ablaze. Morcha activists said the retaliation was a “spontaneous outburst”.

The police, who arrested five persons including the guards for the alleged murder of Subodh, sought reinforcements in the afternoon but still could not stop the rampaging Morcha workers. No activist was arrested.

“The situation is tense but under control,” said Rakesh Singh, the sub-divisional police officer of Kurseong. “We have arrested five persons so far for the murder. Regarding the afternoon’s incident, no complaint has been received.”