Madan Tamang

June 4: A cellphone found from the Clubside motor stand in Darjeeling on the day Madan Tamang was hacked to death has helped the CID home in on three persons, who were arrested last night.

The mobile phone belonged to Nicol Tamang, a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha youth leader from Darjeeling who is absconding. “We examined the call records on the phone and found that Nicol Tamang had made frequent calls to three persons. Two of them, Prashant Chhetri and Subhas Tamang, were in a Kalimpong hospital. They had been shot at in the leg by Madan Tamang’s bodyguard after the attack. The other is Suresh Raimaji from Darjeeling. We have arrested all three,” P. Neerajnayan, the inspector-general (I) of the CID, told The Telegraph in Calcutta.

The injured duo had initially refused to admit that they had anything to do with Nicol, but they apparently gave in and told the police about Raimaji. He was arrest from Darjeeling town late last night.

“The two who were shot at were definitely present at the murder spot. But we have conclusive proof that Raimaji, too, was there during the attack,” the CID officer said.

Raimaji, 36, a contractor, is a resident of Darjeeling. “He was produced in court today. The two others have been sent to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital,” said K.L. Tamta, the inspector-general of police, north Bengal.

The court has remanded Raimaji in police custody for 10 days. All the three have been charged with criminal conspiracy, the police said.

Sangey Yolmo, who is being treated at a Siliguri nursing home and is still in a critical condition, had also suffered bullet injuries when Tamang’s guard had opened fire on May 21, the day the ABGL chief was killed before he was to address a public meeting.

The Morcha promised to allow a fair probe. “People can be arrested on doubts and suspicions but unless it is proved through concrete evidence that the arrested people were involved in the case, we cannot comment,” said Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the Morcha media secretary. “If anybody from our party is involved, we will disown the person and not come between the investigation and the accused.”