Kolkata: A police vehicle escorting Tourism Minister Gautam Deb was reportedly attacked by the agitated Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters at Panighata near Siliguri on Thursday morning.
The attack took place when the minister was on his way to attend a public meeting. A large number of Morcha supporters tried to torch the police jeep, pelted stones at the policemen and also attacked the Panighata police station.
Sources said the minister was ‘heckled’ but there was no official confirmation.
“The minster was escorted to event venue in Siliguri and the situation is now under control,” a senior police officer said. However, the minister claimed that his convoy was attacked and urged the people of Hills to ensure peace.
Meanwhile, early in the morning, nearly 30 masked men set the Selimbong Beat Office on fire. The mob also ransacked seven government forest guard quarters in Dodhrey range. A FIR has been lodged but no arrest was made so far.
Trouble escalated in the Hills since Wednesday after GJM supporters took out a massive funeral procession in Darjeeling with the body of Ashok Tamang, who died on Tuesday at a private hospital in Sikkim.
Tamang was admitted to a hospital in Sikkim after he was allegedly injured in clashes between the police and GJM supporters few days ago.
On July 11, the all-party meeting convened by GJM decided to continue with their indefinite strike in Darjeeling and set July 14 as the deadline for all chairpersons of all development boards to resign for the cause of separate Gorkhaland.
The meeting was convened by the Morcha under the banner of Gorkhaland Movement Coordination Committee (GMCC) at Mirik.
GJM had accused the Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of divisive politics by forming separate boards for the indigenous people in the Hills.
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