The five militants being interrogated in the office of the Jalpaiguri superintendent of police. Picture by Biplab Basak

Dec. 22: Where is Jeevan Singha? That is the question on the mind of almost every police official in Jalpaiguri.

There are contradictory reports on the fate of the self-styled commander of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation. While some say he was killed in the operation launched by the Royal Bhutan Army to remove the insurgents from the southern districts of Bhutan, others claim he has fled to Bangladesh with a large sum of money.

No confirmation has been received on either of the statements.

The Jalpaiguri police are now increasingly banking on the interrogation outputs of the arrested KLO top guns handed over to the police on Saturday. Tom Adhikary alias Joydev Roy, Milton Burma alias Mihir Das, Sanjay Adhikary alias Vicky, Bhim Dakua alias Jayanta Das and Pabitra Singha alias Biplab Singha have been remanded to 10 days police custody. The five were captured on December 15 at Bucca by the RBA.

Senior officers feel the arrested could provide valuable inputs and help the police crack down on Singha and the other rebels on the wanted-list.

Singha, a resident of Haldibari in the militant hotbed of Kumargramduar, was arrested in Kokrajhar of Assam in the mid-Nineties on charges of being involved in militant activities.

He was, however, soon out on bail and has ever since successfully eluded the police force of Jalpaiguri and Assam.

According to intelligence sources, Jeevan was initially part of the Ulfa and had also stayed at an Ulfa camp in Bhutan. In 1995, he formed the KLO along with Tom, Milton, Harshavardhan Burma, Pulastya Burma, Tarzan and a few others, to fight for the creation of a separate Kamtapur state.

According to a surrendered KLO militant, Singha is a greedy man who preferred to stay on at the camps even as other leaders were leading the cadets in daring attacks.

“He maintains a luxurious lifestyle and is always demanding money. He is definitely not the stuff that makes up leaders.”

It is learnt that the five arrested militants, including Tom and Milton, are disappointed with Singha and have claimed the “fugitive chief ran away with a lot of money leaving them to combat the Bhutan army”.

“We have earlier thought of removing him from his post. He has always tried to grab the largest share of money. The situation became so bad in the camps that we had to assure the cadres that steps would be taken against him. Even when the Operation Flushout started, he never backed us up,” the militants have reportedly said.

Far away at his Uttar Haldibari home, Singha’s septuagenarian mother spends the days grieving for her son and waiting for his return.

“I have been so scared since this firing started in Bhutan. Many of my neighbours say he is dead but I refuse to believe that. I just hope he is safe,” sobbed Moteswari Devi when this correspondent went to meet her.

“He has not come here for more than two years. Tamir was a timid child and a good student. After passing out from Madan Singh School in Kumargramduar, he went to Siliguri to complete his graduation. I do not know how he got involved in all this,” said the old woman, tears rolling down her cheeks.