GJM supporters clash with cops after raid on Bimal Gurung`s residence, attack with petrol bombs

The Gorkha separatist campaign in the hills of Darjeeling spiralled deeper into violence on Thursday as protesters and riot police hurled stones at each other, while a media vehicle was torched down by the agitating workers after GJM chief Bimal Gurung`s house was raided by the police.

Kolkata: Protesters hurled petrol bombs as they clashed with police in eastern India`s hill resort of Darjeeling as tensions remained high Thursday, local officials said. 

Riots and arson attacks in Darjeeling last week left at least 12 people injured as thousands of mostly Indian tourists packed their bags and fled.

"The current situation is very tense but under control," Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi, superintendent of Darjeeling police told AFP by phone. 

The clashes happened after the local police raided an establishment "linked to" the leader of the local protest movement, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), to recover a "cache of arms."

"More than 300 weapons including firearms were seized... We suspect the weapons were hidden to create trouble," Director General of West Bengal police Anuj Sharma told AFP. 

"A mob fired and attacked us with petrol bombs as we were returning from the raid. We used batons and fired tear gas shells to control the crowd, and several policemen were also injured in the process," Chaturvedi added. 

The police also blamed the protesters for setting fire to a local news crew vehicle and a government bus. 

Meanwhile, amid the escalating tension in Darjeeling, the GJM called for an indefinite shutdown in protest against the police raid at their office.

Inculpating the ruling TMC for the ongoing protest in Darjeeling by the GJM, the BJP accused the state government of alienating the community, which resultsed in them facing an identity crisis.

"The Gorkhas belong to India, but the state government has alienated them to such an extent that they lost their belief of belonging to this country. It is the identity crisis which has initiated such violence," BJP state vice president Chandra Kumar Bose told ANI.

Bose held the state government responsible for the escalated tension in Darjeeling and said that the ruling regime cannot solve this issue by simply providing some funds and forming the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

On the other hand, the central government called for a tripartite talks in which officials from the state government, the Union home ministry and the elected members of the GTA were to participate.

However, in view of the fresh trouble erupting in the picturesque hill demanding separate Gorkhaland state, the meeting may not take place at all.

General secretary of the GJM, which rules the GTA, made it clear that they would not participate in the meeting. "We will talk only about a separate Gorkhaland state, nothing else," he said.

A home ministry official said no communication has been received from the West Bengal government regarding participation in the meeting.

Many locals and activists led by the GJM have long been demanding the creation of a new Indian state.