Home-guard set on fire, incidents of arson in Darjeeling

Darjeeling: A home-guard was on Friday set on fire in Darjeeling town where incidents of arson were reported on the eve of the indefinite bandh called in the hills to demand a separate state of Gorkhaland on the lines of Telangana.

The home-guard was set on fire at Prakriyathong by unidentified people, police said, adding he was hospitalised. A forest bungalow at Takdha, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had put up during a visit to Darjeeling on January 9 this year was burnt down last night, the sources said. A truck and an SUV were torched at Mongpo, while police booths, which were not in use at Ranglirangliyat and Rangamancha, were set ablaze last night, the sources said. GJM General Secretary Roshan Giri, who left for Delhi as the head of a six-member team, told reporters before his departure that the GJM was not responsible for the incidents of arson and put the blame on opposition parties in the hills. He said that the indefinite bandh could be relaxed for a day or two for which GJM President Bimal Gurung would be consulted. Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal said that one company of the CRPF arrived yesterday and four more battalions would arrive in the hills. Besides the CRPF, there were two battalions of the Indian Reserve Force, five battalions of the riot police and seven battalions of the Rapid Action Force stationed in the hills. PTI