Violence and vandalism rocked different parts of Darjeeling Hills on Friday as the Hills braced for indefinite bandh. To press for their demand for a separate Gorkhaland, a GJM delegation led by general secretary Roshan Giri on Friday left for Delhi.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee sent all-India Trinamul Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Roy to Siliguri to take stock of the situation in north Bengal.
Late on Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday, several government installations were torched, including a forest bungalow at Takdah and a police outpost at Pokriabong under the Sukhia police station. The Takdah forest house was inaugurated with great fanfare by the chief minister on August 5, 2012 — a day after the crucial Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) was constituted. Ms Banerjee had even stayed at this picturesque bungalow.
The VIP rooms were totally gutted in the devastating fire. “The damage could have been even been worse had the local villagers not helped the fire brigade in extinguishing the blaze,” range officer Suresh Pande said.
A police outpost at Pokriabong under Sukhia Pokhari was also set fsablaze. “Miscreants also tried to set on fire two home guards who were present inside the camp. One of them Birman Baraily has been admitted to the Darjeeling Sadar Hospital with burn injuries,” Darjeeling additional superintendent of police Supdeep Sarkar said.
Attempts were made to set ablaze the forest guest house at Lhodama and a government vehicle in Mongpu. The North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb said that the government would deal with such incidents of violence firmly. GJM leader Bimal Tamang, however, distanced his party from violence. “This is a conspiracy to malign GJM leaders and supporters. Our movement is absolutely democratic and peaceful,” he said, adding that the state government was responsible for the turmoil in the Hills.
Interestingly, Mukul Roy accused the Congress-ruled Centre of fomenting separatist movement in the Hills for petty political gains.