POLICE

Kalchini incident : Top cop admits intelligence failure

COOCH BEHAR, Dec. 15: Since the Kalchini incident the opposition political parties have been raising an allegation that the police had no prior information about any government office blockade programme and now the police too admitted that they got no tip-off.

 

Today, the inspector general of police, North Bengal, Mr Kundanlal Tamta admitted that there was no advance information to the police about any government office blockade programme of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) at Kalchini. The intelligence officials might have ignored the little bits of information, if there were any. The police, however, are being instructed to see reoccurrence of such incident never happens, the IGP said.

 

The IGP, North Bengal, talked with the media persons at Cooch Behar Circuit House this morning. Later, he went to Kalchini to take an on the spot account of the situation.

 

Mr Tamta denied terming the growing disputes in Dooars between GJMM activists and others as communal. It is nothing but a result of differences of mind-set between the people of hills and plains, he opined.

 

The IGP almost winded up the information over recent reorganisation of Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and their subversive plans in North Bengal in association with ULFA and other militant outfits. Such information came earlier from different intelligence agencies but there was no substantial evidence to prove them. A huge fund is required to organise a militant outfit and they have to collect it forcefully from different quarters. But, no incident of coercion for raising of funds was reported from anywhere in the recent past, he said.

 

The ample possibility of spreading of Maoist organisation in the Dooars depends on the economic backwardness. At the first phase the Maoists generally use NGOs and other organisations to influence the people by taking advantage of their grievances against the administration and the government. At present, they are engaged in their first phase of work in the Dooars. The lower level officials and bureaucrats are responsible for this. They are not making the people avail the facilities offered by the government and the Maoists are taking this opportunity to strengthen their organisation, The IGP, North Bengal, believes.

 

It was learnt that the police are going to take measures during the ensuing strikes sponsored by GJMM and GCDP to ensure the common people remain free from unwanted harassments. The strike is scheduled to begin from 23 December. []