GJM head office in Darjeeling’s Singhmari sealed

Darjeeling, Nov 1 (IANS) The Darjeeling district authorities on Wednesday sealed Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) head office in Singhmari, claiming both the land and the structure thereon belongs to the West Bengal government, an official said.

"It was found that both the land and the building are state government property. It was fraudulently recorded in the name of Avinash Gurung, son of GJM chief Bimal Gurung," Darjeeling District Magistrate Joyoshi Dasgupta told IANS.

"We have conducted an inquiry but could not find any document that connected the two. So we checked our records and took it over," she said. She did not elaborate on what the administration planned to do with the property.

The official said the issue of encroachment had somehow escaped district administration's notice.

"It is not just the party office, but also of a few shops running on the ground floor. We have not knocked their doors, as of now. We asked owners of those shops to come forward and tell us who gave those on lease," Dasgupta said.

The office in Singhmari, considered a stronghold of Bimal Gurung, became the epicentre of clashes between police and pro-Gorkhaland agitators many times during the 104-day shutdown in the Darjeeling hills.

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