Bimal Gurung’s dramatic move to quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and join hands with Trinamool Congress (TMC) has created shockwaves in West Bengal’s politics.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) founder, Gurung, is a booked offender under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act (UAPA). The Darjeeling had been on the run since 2017.

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In its attempt to get Gurung behind the bars, the West Bengal police had run several operations in the hills which had resulted in the killing of a few officers. One of the slain police officers was Sub-Inspector Amitabha Malik.

Seeing their killer roaming free in Kolkata and getting support from Mamata Banerjee’s TMC hasn’t gone down well with Malik’s parents. Father Tapan Malik has demanded “encounter” of the 56-year-old Gorkha leader as “Mamata Banerjee had promised”.

Even though the West Bengal government in 2017 had allegedly said Gurung played a role Malik’s murder, the Gorkha leader’s name was missing from the chargesheet filed in 2018. 

Seeing their killer roaming free in Kolkata and getting support from Mamata Banerjee’s TMC hasn’t gone down well with Malik’s parents. Father Tapan Malik has demanded “encounter” of the 56-year-old Gorkha leader as “Mamata Banerjee had promised”

“Now it seems only my son had a spine and that is what they wanted to break. The other officers don’t have a spine,” the grieving father said as quoted on Bengali portal The Wall.

“In 2018, I had visited Darjeeling to get an update of my son’s murder’s investigation. After a day of my return, three beheaded dogs were kept outside my door. What did that men? Did it mean that if I protest they would do the same to my family? But, I don’t feel scared anymore.

“The state government had compensated me with five lakh rupees. If they want, I’ll return the money but they’ll have to encounter Bimal Gurung in front of me,” he added.

During a cabinet meeting on July 8, 2017, in Darjeeling, the GJM faction had attacked the state police and took to violence across the hills after the Bengal government did not pay any heed to the demand of creating a separate Gorkhaland state.

The government had tried to control the issue with an iron fist, resulting in a political turmoil that led to a 104-day long curfew. A cat and mouse race to arrest the GJM supremo had resulted in the killing of several police officers and a widespread violence across Darjeeling hills.