Morcha meeting thwarted, 350 held

Arrested Morcha members get into a police van. (Anirban Choudhury)

- Adivasi bandh to foil memorial gathering hits Dooars . ‘Ban’ on govt vehicles to continue OUR CORRESPONDENT - The telegraph

Birpara (Alipurduar), Feb. 7: Police today prevented the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha from holding a memorial meeting at Birpara by arresting around 250 supporters who had assembled defying a prohibitory order. Another 100 workers were picked up later when they marched to Birpara police station.

A 12-hour bandh called by the Adivasi Vikas Parishad to scuttle the Morcha meeting affected life in the Dooars.

The Morcha had announced the meeting at Birpara Nepali High School grounds, 65km from here, in memory of Akbar Lama, a party supporter who had died in a clash with Parishad members on this day last year.

The Parishad had called for the bandh to thwart the Morcha meeting.

Section 144 was imposed in Birpara police station area yesterday. But a large number of Morcha members from different parts of the Dooars reached Birpara last night to avoid the Parishad picketers. At 9 this morning, about 250 workers were arrested when they had gathered near the stage erected for the memorial service and all were charged with violating Section 144.

Alleging that they had been picked up illegally, two workers smashed the window glass of the police van with their fists. They suffered injuries on the hands.

About 11am, around 100 Morcha members were also taken into custody while marching towards Birpara police station to protest the earlier arrests.

Madhukar Thapa, the convener of the Dooars Committee of the Morcha, said: “Police arrested our people illegally. In a democratic country, can’t we pay tribute to a martyr?”

The strike by the Dooars Terai Co-ordination Committee of the Parishad hit life in Nagrakata, Malbazar, Banarhat, Birpara, Kalchini, Madarihat and Falakata. Four shops were damaged and two traders attacked by bandh supporters at Bhoiraber near Falakata. All arrested protesters were released on bail.