“We are doing our best to trace him. We are conducting raids at various villages. So far our search for the fugitive has drawn a blank,” Home Secretary Samar Ghosh said in Kolkata. He also said that IG CID Neraj Narayan Pandey is going to Darjeeling on Wednesday in connection with the investigation. While an assistant sub-inspector and a constable were suspended for dereliction of duty, no action was taken against A S Pahari, the CID investigating officer, who was in charge of the protection of Tamang. “We will see. In fact the investigation will be done now at the IG level,” Ghosh told The Indian Express.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) which had called for a bandh in the hills for an indefinite period, on Tuesday suspended the bandh for two days. A team of GJM leaders led by spokesman Roshan Giri on Tuesday met Darjeeling SP Devendra Pratap Singh who reportedly assured them of tracing Nicole Tamang. “The SP assured us he would produce Nicole Tamang in two days and on his assurance we have withdrawn the bandh ,” Roshan Giri said after their meeting with the SP.

Meanwhile, Darjeeling seems headed for a showdown between the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) and the GJM on Wednesday. An AIGL delegation led by its president Bharati Tamang is returning from their trip to Delhi where they met a host of Central ministers including Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister Veerappa Moily among others.