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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  At least three killed as tensions spiral out of control in Darjeeling
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At least three killed as tensions spiral out of control in Darjeeling

Key officials admitted to the use of firearms on Friday evening. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha claimed at least four persons died in firing by security forces.

Tension escalated in Darjeeling and protesters laid siege to a local police station. Photo: Diptendu Dutta/AFPPremium
Tension escalated in Darjeeling and protesters laid siege to a local police station. Photo: Diptendu Dutta/AFP

Kolkata: The fire of communal unrest was barely doused in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district when tensions in Darjeeling flared up again after at least three persons were killed since Friday evening, when security forces opened fire.

Two columns of the army were redeployed on Saturday to address the intensifying crisis, according to a spokesperson for the Eastern Command.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) claimed at least four persons had died in police firing and several were admitted to hospitals with serious injuries. Hospitals have been made out-of-bounds for visitors by the administration, the GJM claimed.

It was not immediately clear if security forces had resorted to firing on Saturday, but key officials in Darjeeling admitted to use of firearms on Friday evening. They confirmed three deaths till Saturday evening.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday ordered an inquiry into the incident. Asked about the firing, inspector-general of police Javed Shamim said it could be ascertained only after a probe was conducted.

However, two key officials in Darjeeling said security forces were compelled to use firearms on Friday evening in self-defence. Some people were found looting stores and vehicles on Darjeeling’s Hill Cart Road on Friday evening at around 11pm. Security forces intervened when locals appealed for protection but the team was outnumbered and attacked with sharp objects, added these officials, who asked not to be identified.

This is the first time officials have admitted to use of firearms. Three persons died in Darjeeling in clashes with security forces on 17 June. The GJM blamed it on police firing, but the administration vehemently denied the use of firearms and brought charges of murder against top Gorkha leaders such as Bimal Gurung and his wife.

Tension escalated in Darjeeling immediately and protesters laid siege to a local police station. The unnamed officials cited above couldn’t immediately confirm if security forces had to fire to quell Saturday’s protests, but said that a police outpost and a train station had been torched, and a police station almost overrun by an angry mob.

The chief minister said the situation in Darjeeling went out of hand because of the centre’s refusal to despatch central paramilitary forces. Eleven companies of the Central Reserve Police Force are already deployed in the hills of West Bengal, where an indefinite strike for the past 24 days has led to shortage of food and other essential items.

A home ministry official in New Delhi said the chief minister’s allegation was baseless because the state itself had earlier in the week refused the centre’s offer for sending more forces to deal with communal violence in North 24 Parganas district. That aside, the state had several battalions of reserve forces under its own control, which it could immediately deploy, this person said, asking not to be named.

On Saturday, Banerjee also announced a judicial inquiry into the communal violence in North 24 Parganas, in which at least one person was killed. She said two wings of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been outlawed in West Bengal and that the BJP was has incited the unrest in North 24 Parganas and Darjeeling districts.

She appealed to the Gorkhas to shun violence and if peace was restored, she would hold talks with them within the next 10-12 days.

GJM spokesperson Binoy Tamang said there was no question of talking to Banerjee, and that talks could be held with the centre only over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.

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Published: 08 Jul 2017, 12:51 PM IST
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