Despite its aggressive campaign, the United Front managed to wrest just two seats ? Mirik Valley and Jaldhaka-Todaytangta ? from the GNLF. The CPM, which was most decimated by its breakaway faction, the Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM) two-and-a-half-years ago, fared even worse by losing Bengdungra, its lone seat in the council.

GNLF chief Subhas Ghising created history of sorts by winning Soureni-Panighata for the third time without visiting the constituency even once. With 9071 votes he also made all his opponents, including the CPM and the United Front, forfeit their security deposits.

A beaming Ghising said: ?It is more than a landslide victory for us. It?s a vote for development. The polls have proved that the CPM does not exist here.?

As the slogans of ?Jai Gorkha? and ?Jai Subhas? reverberated in the hills, he said: ?The United Front is also not a factor at all.?

This is the third time the maverick GNLF leader has led his party to a sweeping victory in the council polls. In the earlier two polls held in 1988 and 1993, his party won 26 and 27 of the seats, respectively.

Elections were held in 27 constituencies this time as the Lopchu-Peshok seat was won by a GNLF rebel Bhanu Lama (approved by Ghising) unopposed.

?The people have expressed their faith in the green flag. The rebels will rejoin the party,? Ghising said. He had earlier claimed that he allowed rebels to contest and use the green flag to settle disputes among various leaders for candidature. The GNLF leader, who had predicted the formation of a Gorkhaland state by next year before the polls, declined to comment on the statehood question.

Of the two United Front candidates who shocked the GNLF were Basant Kumar Rai who unseated R.P. Waiba by 288 votes in Mirik Valley and Shankhmani Rai who dethroned Bharta Jairu in Jaldhaka-Todaytangta.

Both belong to the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League which, along with the CPRM, the Congress, the Bharatiya Gorkha Janashakti, the CPI, the Trinamul Congress, the Bharatiya Nepali Bir Gorkha and the Sikkim Rashtriya Mukti Morcha, constitute the United Front. The Trinamul lost the Ghoom-Jorebunglow as well as the Tung-Sonanda seats.

Besides the CPM, which drew a blank this time, the Forward Bloc and the CPI also suffered humiliating defeats in Kurseong and Kalimpong sub-divisions. Commenting on the results, CPRM general secretary and senior United Front leader R.B. Rai said: ?We cannot call it a bad defeat because our votes have gone up further. This also indicates that the GNLF cannot run the council aimlessly as it did in the past.? He claimed the GNLF faced tough opposition in several seats like Darjeeling-2, Kalimpong, Khasmahal, Tukuan-Singhamari and Ghoom-Jorebunglow.

While in Tukuan-Singhamari, GNLF?s Rudra Pradhan won by just 48 votes, in Ghoom-Jorebunglow its candidate Gopimaya Gurung won by just 105.

Among the notable losers were Gorkha National Women?s Organisation president Hema Lama (who lost to party rebel Rajen Dewan in Gadidhuka-Giddhapahar), Bharatiya Gorkha Janashkati general secretary Paldin Lama (who was defeated by his elder brother and GNLF candidate S.K. Lama in Rimbir) and sitting CPM member Tara Sundas who lost to GNLF?s Hangu Subba in Bengdungra.

Some of Ghising?s close lieutenants like E.K. Pradhan, I.N. Pradhan and K.N. Subba won by huge margins in Kalimpong town, Tindharia-Sukna and Garubathan, respectively.

The Gorkha League working president Hiten Sherpa lost in Manebhanjyang, while council vice-president Keshab Lama won the Teesta-Takdah seat.

Police said about 500 supporters carrying flags and chanting slogans were walking in procession from Moulali along Lenin Sarani. Even as they proceeded to the rally ground, several other processions converged at the crossing, choking arterial roads. The traffic snarl soon started to spread beyond S.N. Banerjee Road and Bentinck Street.

Police said the traffic constable at the Lenin Sarani-Madan Street crossing stopped the marchers and released vehicles travelling from Madan Street towards New Market, infuriating BJP supporters who barked at the policeman to hold up the vehicles and let them pass.

When the policeman refused to obey, an argument broke out. Soon several activists surrounded the constable and started beating him up. They even tore his uniform.

The violence began to spread and BJP supporters started stoning vehicles, severely damaging two Marutis and three private buses. The handful of policemen at the crossing were outnumbered and screamed into their wireless sets, asking for reinforcements.

But when BJP workers realised that reinforcements would move in within minutes, they began to mingle with the other processions that were passing along S.N. Banerjee Road. Lalbazar said no one was arrested and the injured policeman was taken to hospital and released after treatment.

There was a flutter at the Brigade Parade Grounds when a member of the BJP?s Mahila wing suddenly stood up wailing at the women?s gallery and tried to interrupt the Prime Minister?s speech. She was stopped by policemen while trying to jump over the barricade in order to go to the dais. Hailing from Kalyani in Nadia, the woman said she was being tortured by her husband and wanted to complain to the Prime Minister as her pleas to the police had gone unheeded.

Scribes assaulted

According to witnesses Sahoo, a promoter, was forced into a private car at gun point while he was waiting on Deshpran Sashmal Road near Swiss Park this evening.

The criminals later rang up Sahoo?s wife and demanded a ransom for his release. Though she informed the Tollygunge police, there was no senior officer present to attend to her complaint.

Tollygunge officer-in-charge Apurba Som Chowdhury, who was at the Brigade Parade Grounds, rushed to the spot on hearing the news.

The police control room at Lalbazar and deputy commissioner of police Ranjit Pachnanda feigned ignorance about the incident. Sources said Sahoo could not be traced till late tonight.

Policeman arrested

Old boys based in the US, Europe and Calcutta will meet in London on June 2 and 3, 2000, for a congress which will discuss the political reasons behind the slump in education.

The exercise will kick off tomorrow with a dinner where artist Manjit Bawa will be present. Amit Ghosh and C.S. Mukherjee, both members of Alumnorum Societas, Calcutta, came up with the idea of the convention in London as it serves as a meeting point for Xaverians round the globe.

?There must be a movement. Old boy gatherings do not go beyond reunions and nostalgia. Our aim is to do something for society,? Ghosh said. He pointed out that India lags behind in education compared to other southeast Asian countries. ?We shall also examine the socio economic factors behind this,? he added.

Besides the education convention, a fellowship cricket match between St Xavier?s alumni and Wimbledon School old boys will also be held. A fund raiser will contribute money for Titli, the school for slum children in St Xavier?s. Tomorrow?s dinner will be followed by five or six events in Calcutta and London before the rendezvous in 2000.

Station office ransacked

Defence sources said troops of 21 Mountain Division were patrolling the village when two militants, hiding in the vicinity, fired at them. The jawans retaliated, killing one of the militants, Soneswar Konwar, on the spot. The other managed to escape.

At Bagma village in the Udaipur subdivision, suspected NLFT militants burnt alive an injured non-tribal, kidnapped a government employee and injured a Bengali housewife.

Sources said militants barged into the residence of Amarchand Debnath at about 8.30 pm and began to fire in the air. Debnath?s wife Hemlata, 47, and a relative, Subhas Kar, 37, sustained critical bullet injuries. When the militants saw an injured Kar hiding under the bed in a neighbour?s hut, they set the house on fire, burning the injured man alive. While escaping into the nearby jungles, the militants kidnapped state government employee Nirmal Baidya.

Incensed over the spurt of violence, irate non-tribals from the neighbourhood went on the rampage in a local tribals? colony and set five houses on fire.

Suspected NLFT militants yesterday abducted non-tribals Tapan Rudrapal, 16, and Ajit Dasgupta, 50, from Balak in the Amarpur subdivision. The police later received a ransom note demanding Rs 5 lakh for their release.

Salient among yesterday?s abductions was that of Bimal Das, 37, the officer-in-charge of Raisyabari police station. Sources said Das, having spent a holiday at his Udaipur home, was on his way to office, sailing on a boat across the Dumbar lake. As the boat manoeuvred through a narrow inlet, a band of militants hiding on the wooded banks ordered the boat to stop and abducted Das.

Meanwhile, the Peoples? Democratic Front (PDF) has demanded the immediate formation of village defence committees under police supervision.

Raising the demand at a press conference yesterday, senior PDF leader Dhiraj Guha said the formation of such committees comprising tribals and non-tribals who would work under police supervision, would effectively deter militants.

Guha held the ruling CPM responsible for the worsening law and order situation in the state. He said the party, having failed to fulfil its four-point promise for the uplift of tribals, has incited militancy.

Loktak drive

Manipur chief minister W. Nipamacha Singh today defended Operation Loktak conducted by the Army in and around eastern India?s largest freshwater lake.

Replying to a call-attention motion in the state Assembly, Singh said the operation was conducted following public requests.

Nipamacha, however, said the duration of the operation was too long. The Bishenpur district deputy commissioner has initiated an inquiry to assess the damages caused during the drive. He said the government will consider helping villagers as per the deputy commissioner?s report.

Indeed, Serango, about 35 km from here, is sitting on a powder keg that could explode just as it did at Ranalai village in R.Udaygiri earlier this week. Police claim to be ready for trouble, but the jittery minority community, which bore the brunt of violence in Christian-dominated Ranalai, is not too sure.

?The situation in Serango is tense, but under control,? deputy superintendent of police Rajan Behera said. ?We are prepared to thwart any attempt to cause trouble in the village,? he added.

However, such statements have failed to reassure the minority community. ?Despite repeated pleas, police did not take any steps to prevent the attack on Christians in Ranalai, or to protect their property. What is the guarantee that the men in uniform will come to our rescue in Serango?? wondered Niranjan Bardhan, general secretary of the Gajapati Christian Association.

?The government should upgrade the Serango police station, with an inspector in charge. Adequate forces should also be deployed if it means business,? Bardhan, a pastor, said.

Tension gripped the village in July last year when Christians found a crucifix atop the Somborogoda hill uprooted. The community blamed their Hindu neighbours, who claimed the hill to be their holy place, for the desecration. A clash followed, forcing several Hindu families to flee.

The district administration subsequently barred both communities from performing any religious rites atop the hill. The minority community was also not allowed to reinstall the crucifix. The administration also beefed up security in Serango and persuaded the Hindu families who had fled to return to the village. A peace committee comprising representatives of both communities was also constituted.

Christians from the village said they apprehended trouble and apprised the district administration 15 days before the crucifix was damaged, but no action was taken. Since then, tension has been palpable in the village.

Bardhan said though the village was Christian-dominated, both communities had lived peacefully for ages. ?The situation changed drastically after the BJP came to power in 1998. Fundamentalist groups from outside started instigating the Hindus against the Christians and vitiated the atmosphere,? he said.

RSS sanghachalak Lingaraj Pattojoshi agreed that Serango could ?explode any moment? and accused Christians of ?forcibly? installing a crucifix atop the hill.

Turtles rescued

The temple managing committee, anticipating rapid economic recovery, has drawn up a budget showing Rs 1.97 crore as surplus. The state-controlled temple managing committee with the Puri Maharaja Dibyasingh Deb as chairman, met recently to review the capital accounts of the temple in 1998-99 and estimated a surplus of Rs 1.07 crore by the end of the year.

Buoyed by the trend, the committee had drawn up the budget for 1999-2000 with estimated capital receipts of Rs 12.18 crore and pegged the capital disbursement at Rs 10.21 crore. The budget estimates showed that the managing committee, to shore temple finances, intends leasing out eight stone quarries located within the temple estates.

Lease rentals in 1998-99 fetched Rs 3.11 lakh, and the managing committee targets to mop up Rs 1.41 crore from lease rentals in 1999-2000. The new budget further estimates it would receive Rs 2.26 crore as compensation for vested land belonging to the temple. The money is likely to be disbursed in the form of annuities.