Senior GJM leader and GTA member, Binay Tamang, who was elected as the chief executive of the hill authority on September 27, has begun a fast at Jalpaiguri correctional home, according to jail authorities.
Tamang has been refusing food since yesterday in protest against alleged false charges against him, Darjeeling GJM MLA, Trilok Dewan who visited the jail in Jalpaiguri to meet Tamang today told reporters.
Jail doctors were asked to monitor Tamang's health from time to time, a senior officer of the correctional home said.
"At present, his condition is stable. In case of any deterioration, the doctors will refer him for hospitalisation, he said.
Tamang was arrested during the fresh statehood movement in Darjeeling from July-end. Dewan said the other three GJM leaders in the jail had not gone on fast.
Meanwhile, the hoisting of a Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) flag during the day in Samalbong area led to some conflict. The GJM accused the GNLF of trying to disrupt peace and filed an FIR at the Kalimpong police station.
The GNLF filed a counter FIR against the GJM accusing them of trying to cause unrest.
GNLF leader Hem Kumar Tamang, a former village chief of Samalbong, alleged that GJM leaders Guman Singh Tamang, Nar Bahadur Tamang, Kamal Sharma and others were threatening his partymen.
"They also mistreated female members of my family," Kumar alleged.
