Loknath Gupta’s eatery that was vandalised. Picture by Avijit Sarkar

Sukna, June 3: Tension ran high and residents stayed indoors as the Gorkha National Liberation Front shut down this bustling town today to protest the arrest of its 14 workers, including the local gram panchayat pradhan.

The arrests came after villagers, enraged over a reported threat to kill the woman panchayat pradhan, burned down the home and businesses of Loknath Gupta, a local resident. Gupta owned an eatery in the area, also burnt down by the mob.

Hours before her arrest, Tshering Dahal, the arrested panchayat pradhan, had accused Gupta and his three sons of hiring a contract killer to “eliminate” her. She said N. Ansari Khan, the hired killer, had leaked the news to her, impressed by her behaviour.

She said she had lodged a police complaint after learning of the plot, but no action had been taken against the Guptas.

Darjeeling district superintendent of police Darjeeling Sanjay Chander said that 11 of the 14 arrested were named in the First Information Report filed by Gupta.

They were produced in court today, from where four arrested women including the panchayat pradhan were released on bail. The others were remanded in police custody.

The district police chief said the Guptas, the butt of the mob fury, were in an undisclosed place under police protection because of the perceived threat to their lives.

The Guptas were arrested last year after their daughter-in-law Anita died of burn injuries. Anita’s family had accused her in-laws of setting her on fire for not being able to pay the increased demands for dowry.

Shops and businesses stayed shut in response to the bandh call given by the GNLF in Sukna today. Schools and colleges were also closed and traffic was off the road.

The police, in a late night swoop, picked up the panchayat pradhan and 13 others on charges of “instigating” the arson.

“How could police arrest our panchayat pradhan when it was she who had filed an FIR against the Guptas for hiring a killer to do away with her,” GNLF Kurseong unit chief, Indra Narayan Pradhan, who is also an executive councillor of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, said. “We won’t not take it lying down.”

Accusing the police of being high-handed, Pradhan said,“ Police personnel, behaving like rowdies, broke into the house of an elected public representative, dragged her out and arrested her. They treated her like a criminal.” He said police could have easily arrested her during the day if they had so desired.

The GNLF leader said a party delegation would go and meet the sub-divisional police officer of Kurseong tomorrow and demand an explanation. He said the party might call an indefinite strike to protest the heavy-handedness of the police.

Family members of the panchayat pradhan accused the police of acting “in an inhuman way.”

Kalpana Dahal, her sister-in-law, said: “They barged into our house and whisked her away her in the middle of the night.”