The CBI on Thursday arrested a man from Bengaluru who was wanted in connection with the murder case of Madan Tamang, the then president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) who was killed in broad daylight in Darjeeling in May 2010.

The agency arrested Puran Bahadur Rai from Anekal Taluka, Bengaluru Rural, ending his over-seven-year run from the process of law, officials said.

According to CBI officials, the accused had been evading arrest since 2017 and to escape from arrest Rai had shifted base from Darjeeling to Bangalore.

In pursuance to the notifications issued by the West Bengal government and the central government, the CBI took up the investigation and re-registered the case on January 19, 2011, by taking over an FIR lodged by the Sadar police station in Darjeeling.  “Accused Puran Rai is a charge-sheeted accused in the case and has not been attending the trial proceedings since 2017. The Court of Ld. Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, Kolkata, had issued a proclamation against him on 03.04.2017, but he failed to appear before the trial court. The Ld. Court again issued an open-ended warrant against him on 20.11.2024. After concerted efforts and technical inputs, the CBI arrested the absconding accused,” read a statement by CBI.

Tamang was attacked with sharp weapons when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting at Clubside in Darjeeling town on May 21, 2010, and was declared dead at the Sadar hospital there.