As the North Bengal hills continue to remain under stir on the 30th-day indefinite strike demanding a separate state, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) office, a police outpost and a state-run library were set on fire in Darjeeling on Friday. As unrest intensifies, internet services remained suspended for the 27th day.
On Friday, early hours, a police outpost in Sukhiapokhri were set afire while the state-run library in Mirik sub-division was reduced to ashes by pro-Gorkhaland supporters Thursday night, a police official said. The Army continues to be deployed in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sonada.
In view of the upcoming presidential polls, the Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) decided to postpone its fast-unto-death programme from July 15.
“We have decided to postpone the programme of fast-unto- death as presidential elections are nearby. We’ll take a call on it at our next all-party meeting on July 18,” a GMCC member said.
The 30-member GMCC represents all hill based parties, including the GJM, the GNLF and the JAP.
On Thursday, para-military and police forces patrolled the streets and kept a strict vigil as hundreds of agitators took out rallies reciting poems of Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya and carrying placards demanding Gorkhaland. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) office for travel and tourism at Chowrastha-Mall Road in the hill town was set ablaze on Thursday morning. Several government vehicles were also damaged near the Darjeeling toy-train station on Wednesday night, official sources said.
