Blast at Kalimpong: One civic volunteer died, third blast in last 24 hours in North Bengal

“The bomb detonated close to the police station if it would have entered inside perhaps all on duty officials would have died”, added an official. As per police sources, additional force from nearby station have been rushed to the spot.

“People with ulterior motives are trying to disturb Hills , their movement are loosing steam and hense they are trying to panic people again .The kind of explosives they are using are dangerous and alarming”, added another official.

Police have already booked Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung and several others under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their alleged involvement in the Darjeeling blast that took place on wee hours of Saturday. Though no casualty was reported, police said several shops were destroyed due to the explosion that took place around 12.50 am in front of the old supermarket near Singamari Motor Syndicate in Chowkbazar.

“It was a high intensity blast… parts of the explosives were found at a distance of 30 to 40 m from the blast spot. Glass windows of a nearby building were damaged. The target seems to have been the police personnel who were patrolling the area.

Prima facie we suspect that Gorkha leaders, namely Bimal Gurung, Prakash Gurung and Praveen Subba, were behind the explosion. A case has been initiated at Sadar police station against Bimal Gurung, Prakash Gurung, Praveen Subba and others under section 120B (criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging war), 121A (attempting to wage war) A, 122 (collecting wars) of the IPC, Explosive Substance Act, UAPA, West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act and Professional Diploma in Public Procurement Act, Darjeeling SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi said.

Meanwhile, demanding a NIA probe into the Darjeeling blast incident, GJM claimed the blast was planned and executed by those who are not in favour of Gorkhaland.