Ajoy Edwards has offered to take forward the Madan Tamang murder case — one of the most high-profile cases in Darjeeling in recent times — for which Madan’s wife Bharati has expressed happiness.

Madan Tamang, then president of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL), was hacked to death on May 21, 2010, just before he was supposed to address a public meeting that many said would reveal explosive details of hill politics. The venue of the meeting was Upper Clubside in Darjeeling, where Madan was killed.

The Bimal Gurung-led Gorkha Janmukti Morcha was in control of the Darjeeling politics then. Madan had been alleging that Bimal and his party would accept an autonomous council with the name “Gorkhaland” and that the party was insincere about the demand for Gorkhaland state.

“We have offered to take the Madan Tamang murder case forward if the family members want. Our legal team will start work immediately,” said the Hamro Party chief after offering khada to Madan’s statue, erected at the very place of his murder, on Tuesday.

Bharati, present at the site, said she was happy. “I am so sad that 14 years have passed but justice has eluded us. I cannot say if there is a play of the government or not (in this) but I am living with the hope that one day I will get justice.”

On Edwards’s offer, Bharati said: “I felt happy (with the offer). He has asked us to consult among our family members.... Truth has to prevail, isn’t it?”

The murder case has seen many twists and turns. The case was initially investigated by the CID. After Nicole Tamang, a central committee member of the Morcha and a prime accused, escaped from its custody, the case was handed over to the CBI.

The CBI in its May 29, 2015 chargesheet accused Bimal Gurung and 47 of his associates in the case. The associates included senior hill leaders such as Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Harka Bahadur Chhetri, Pradip Pradhan and Bimal’s wife Asha Gurung.

On August 17, 2017, the Calcutta city sessions court Gurung’s name from the chargesheet stating that the CBI had failed to provide enough evidence.

Bharati then filed a revision application in Calcutta High Court against the lower court’s order.

A special leave application (SLP) was also filed in the Supreme Court by Bharati and CBI asking the Supreme Court to direct the Bengal police to hand over an audio clip of the alleged conversation between Morcha leaders and their cadres before and after Madan's murder.

Amar Lama, Madan’s brother, told The Telegraph: “The Supreme Court has recently given the liberty to Bharati Tamang and CBI to move the trial court seeking the audio tape to be handed over to the CBI by the Bengal government.”

Amar, who is currently the general secretary of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), maintained that the Calcutta High Court had concluded the hearing on the revision petition and that they were awaiting the final order.

Many BGPM leaders, who were earlier with Gurung’s Morcha, feature in the CBI’s chargesheet, which is why Madan’s murder remains an explosive issue in hill politics.