Siliguri, March 6: Political parties, barring Subash Ghising’s GNLF, today condemned last night’s mystery blast that rocked the office of a popular Nepali daily which had opposed the Gorkhaland agitation of the mid-80s.

The Communist Party of Revolutionary Marxists (CPRM), the main Opposition group in the hills, described the explosion in the office of Sunchari Samachar as a “dastardly act against the fourth estate”. CPRM spokesman D.S. Bomzan said: “The people behind the attack are trying to force the fourth estate to leave its path of truth, fair play, justice and the blast is a direct attack on democracy. The daily has rendered huge service in the spread of intellectual development among Nepali-speaking Indians all over the country.”

Bharatiya Gorkha Janashakti president C.R. Rai echoed Bomzan. “We demand a through probe into the incident to unravel the truth and that stern action be taken against those responsible for the cowardly act.”

The crude bomb, believed to be fitted with a timer, was planted in the yard of the two-storeyed newspaper office in Pradhannagar.

In a veiled attack on the GNLF, Bomzan said the mass-circulated vernacular daily long known for its “uncompromising” stance on hill issues, “had to face the wrath of elements who tried to hide their misdeeds by trying to stifle the truth and even faced ban in the hills”.

In 1988, the GNLF had “banned” the Nepali paper in the hills for its critical coverage of the Gorkhaland agitation.

The GNLF refrained from making any comments, saying its leaders were out of station. “Deepak Gurung (the party’s Darjeeling unit chief) is out of station and he is not expected back before Saturday,” said a member of Gurung’s residence.

Police are clueless on the explosion. “We are looking into different angles,” said a senior state intelligence official who visited the newspaper’s Pradhannagar office today.

The police said investigations are on and a night picket has been posted near the office, which doubles as the residence of its editor Kumar Pradhan.

Hill political observers believe the powerful explosion was a “warning” to the vernacular daily popular among the Nepalese. “It could possibly be the handiwork of vested interests with an eye on the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council polls slated for November. The explosion is possibly a warning to the daily to ‘behave’ itself,” said an observer.