JOIN US2 activists of Gorkha outfit killed
In a grim reminder of violent days of the bloody Gorkhaland agitation that rocked Darjeeling in the 80s, GJM supporters ran berserk in the hills once the news of the death of the party activists reached there. Hordes of men started torching a series of forest offices and bungalows in several areas.
At least 20 state forest offices and the bunglow of the division forest officer were torched so far and some more were burning at the time of filing this report. A worried Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacherjee called up Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and requested him to dispatch at least two companies of the BSF to help the civil administration quell the marauding GJM mob. “Army has been called in to assist the paramilitary and state police forece to control the law and order till the arrival of additional forces in the next 36 hours,” official sources said.
Two GJM activists, including a woman, were killed in the Dooars area in the plains of North Bengal earlier in the day after the women’s wing decided to carry on with the march in violation of the prohibitory orders. A clash with police ensued in which several people in cluding 15 policemen sustained injuries.
“Police had to open fire after some male GJM activists attacked a lady police constable with khukris,” Inspector General of Police (North Bengal) R Kumar said. “She received severe injuries on her neck and head. One male and one female supporter of the GJM died in the police firing.”
At least six police vehicles were set afire the police failed to restore the law and order. The situation is still reported to be extremely tense in the hills with prohibitory orders being promulgated in fresh areas of trouble.