GJM leaders from Dooars held in ‘teacher’s murder case’

Alipurduar: Rohit Thapa, former Dooars convener of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJM) and Pasang Lama have been arrested in connection with the murder of a teacher in Jaigaon, Alipurduar district. The accused were produced before the Alipurduar Court on Tuesday, where they were remanded to 14 days of police custody.

The body of 38-year-old Shantabir Tamang, a private school teacher, was found in a bloodied state in a field in Shukrajot, Mechia Basti, on Saturday morning. Initial investigations revealed that Tamang had a gambling addiction. Despite interrogating seven of Tamang’s friends based on the victim’s brother Hiring Tamang, filed a written complaint on Saturday, the police were unable to gather substantial leads.

However, on Monday, police arrested one Pandu Rai and Bijay Subba in connection with the murder. Rai, who has a criminal record, was previously implicated in an NDPS case also. Further investigation led to the arrests of Thapa and Lama on Tuesday, based on information provided by Rai and Subba. It was revealed that Thapa and Lama had taken the victim’s car, had handed over the car to a person who they had lost a gambling bout to in lieu of Rs 1.5 lakh. Tamang, who had purchased the car on loan from a private lender, was reportedly under pressure to repay the debt. He constantly pestered the duo demanding that his car be returned to him or compensated. This financial strain, coupled with ongoing arguments with Thapa and Lama, allegedly led to the plot to murder Tamang. Rai and Subba were assigned the task of carrying out the killing.

SDPO Jaigaon, Prasanta Debnath, stated: “The arrested individuals are the main conspirators behind the murder of Shantabir Tamang. We have arrested a total of four individuals in this case. Our investigation has uncovered several links to money and gambling.”

In a response to the arrests, GJM secretary Roshan Giri clarified: “Both Thapa and Lama were once part of our organisation and held positions of responsibility. However, they have had no contact with us for some time and we do not take any responsibility for their actions or arrest.”