New armed Gurkha group in Bengal

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta

Darjeeling is a well-known tourist destination in India

Indian police say a new armed group is demanding that a Gurkha state be created by separating Darjeeling from of the eastern state of West Bengal.

The new group is called United Gurkha Revolutionary Front, Darjeeling district's police superintendent, Rajesh Suvarna, told journalists.

He said the group was formed about two months ago and is led by a former paramilitary soldier, Ajay Dhahal.

Mr Suvarna said the group had collected a lot of weapons.

Mr Dhahal had left the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to join the Gurkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) in the 1980s, he said.

The GNLF, led by Subhas Ghising, fought for a separate Gurkha state for seven years until it signed an agreement with the Indian government in 1988.

The agreement led to the creation of the autonomous Darjeeling Gurkha Hill Council with Mr Ghising as its head.

Operations

Over the years, Mr Ghising has demanded more powers for the council and complained about inadequate funds for the development of the hill region.

Indian intelligence officials say Mr Dhahal fell out with Mr Ghising because he felt the agreement was a betrayal of the Gurkha aspirations for a separate state.

Mr Suvarna said some of the group's weapons were recently recovered after four of its members were arrested in a village on Darjeeling's border with Nepal.

He said that some police operations had been started on the basis of their confessions, but gave no more details of what the arrested activists had said.

Mr Suvarna said there was no evidence that the new group had links with Maoists operating in Nepal.

Officials said West Bengal police had been asked to start a drive in the state's northern districts to track down activists and leaders of the new organisation before they became a major force.