Gangtok: On the second day of the ongoing Sikkim Legislative Assembly session on Saturday, Speaker Arun Upreti along with Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay and other legislators took the platform to condemn the heinous attack on former Assembly speaker KN Rai on Friday afternoon.
Chief Minister Prem Singh Golay in his address, condemned the attack on Rai, while equally claiming, “There could be a conspiracy to defame the state government. We will not leave the attackers, a thorough investigation will be carried out. It doesn’t matter which party they may be from”.
CM Golay shared how KN Rai had been a dear friend to him for 15 years when they were with the SDF. “I had last met him at an event in Siliguri in December 2023. Currently, I am in constant touch with the hospital administration where Rai has been admitted. At 3:05 pm yesterday, I received the information from Melli Police Station about the attack on him. I immediately conveyed to the Sikkim Police DGP to arrest the attackers as quickly as possible”.
With the arrest of 4 attackers being made around 2 am on Saturday, two others were arrested in the morning, while one other is still at large.
The Chief Minister also read out the names of the attackers, David Rai, Laxuman Rai, Jiten Rai, Pawan Tamang, Saroj Thapa, and Karan Tamang, all of whom are from Melli. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 307 attempt to murder, 341 punishment for wrongful restraint, 324 voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means by the accused, 326 offense of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, 427 mischief causing damage, 34 acts done by several individuals in furtherance of common intention.
Similarly, legislator DR Thapa also condemned the attack, stating, “When the former speaker of assembly is not safe, how can we expect a common citizen to be safe in the State”.
Thapa also took a jibe at the ruling front, he said, “Even our leaders must control their mouth, the words they say during public addresses. What they preach has actions, and such violence will not be tolerated. With such violence, a victory in the election will not be a sweet one, even for the victorious”.
Similar addresses were made by Assembly speaker Arun Kumar Upreti and Melli constituency legislator Farwanti Tamang.
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