Kalimpong, Oct. 1: A member of a central team visiting the hills seized the cassette of a local television journalist who was filming an informal meeting between the officials and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders.

The incident occurred at a riverside hamlet in Relli, 6km from here, when the leader of the team and joint secretary in the home ministry, N.S. Kalsi, asked the reporter, Raju Bhandari, to stop filming the meeting with the Morcha’s Kalimpong unit leaders at the DGHC-run Coffee House.

“Kalsi sent an official who asked me to hand over the cassette to him. I thought he would give me back the cassette, but that did not happen. I approached a few Morcha leaders for help, but they could not do anything,” said Bhandari.