Darjeeling, Sept. 1: Some members of the Gorkhaland Personnel, an informal army of hill youths working for the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, today said police were terrorising its members and their families and collecting data about them.
Police officers in the hills denied the charge of terrorising members of the GLP but admitted that some data about them were being collected.
The officers said they wanted to be in the know if some of the youths were receiving arms training or trying to spark unrest in the hills.
Jogman Thapa, a GLP member, told a news conference today: "After the GTA started functioning in 2013, the GLP became defunct. The camps do not exist and we are doing various jobs and leading our own lives now. Some of us have also been employed in various departments of the GTA. We are not terrorists and we have only taken part in democratic movements and activities. During the Left Front regime, some police officers had inspected our camps and found that we were not into arms. But of late, the police are terrorising us and our families."
The GLP was not formally disbanded by the Morcha, which before forming the GTA used the hill youths' outfit to control crowds at party events. Over time, some GLP members were seen moral-policing.
Thapa said: "Earlier, too, we came out in support of the Gorkhaland demand. We still support the demand but we only believe in democratic agitation. We used to do social work, like helping people during natural calamities and other emergencies."
Another GLP member, Sachin Thakuri, said: "For the past few days, the police have been coming to our workplace and collecting details about the GLP. They are sending civic and village police personnel to our homes and taking photographs of our houses and enquiring about us. The police are also visiting photocopy shops and asking if any GLP document is in circulation. They are trying to terrorise us and our family members."
The senior police officer said the move to keep tabs on the GLP youths was triggered by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung's call for a statehood agitation earlier this month and a meeting some squad members had with him this week.
"Recently, GLP members held a meeting with Gurung. We just want to ensure that they suddenly do not become adventurous. We are collecting data for their own good. If there are complaints that anyone has gone missing and is probably taking some arms training, then we can immediately get their details, like where they are working and in which area they are. We have done nothing to terrorise them. We have not slapped cases just because someone was a GLP," the officer said.
The police sources claimed that GLP members met Gurung at Patlabas earlier this week. What transpired at the meeting is not known.
The lathi-wielding squad of volunteers of the Morcha was formed in 2008.
The Morcha had claimed that 15,000-odd youths were on the GLP's rolls and they were being trained by ex-servicemen. The main GLP camp was at Gorubathan in Kalimpong subdivision.
Each member of the GLP, both girls and boys, was paid between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 a month by the Morcha.
During the Left regime, cases had been slapped against the GLP for illegally occupying government buildings and wearing army fatigues.
A clause was included in the GTA memorandum of agreement, which was signed by the Centre, state and the Morcha on July 18, 2011, that read: "The GTA youth would be considered for recruitment to police, army and para-military forces subject to their suitability for such appointment."
Nothing specific to the GLP was mentioned in the agreement.
