Morcha protesters caught in mob furyin Siliguri

Siliguri wore a tense look for most part of Friday following a mob violence and rampage by supporters of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. Around 10 people were injured in separate incidents of violence after Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters raised anti-CPM slogans, sparking violence in different parts of the town. The marauders alleged they were provoked into violence after they were attacked and assaulted by some CPI (M) men.
 
Near Hospital More, a crowd, which included some CPM supporters, beat up four Morcha members, two of them women. Policemen, who came to the rescue, shepherded them to a public toilet and later whisked them away. Three women were beaten up near the PWD bungalow.

A Morcha supporter was dragged to the ground and punched near the booking office of the Northeast Frontier Railway. Back at Hospital More, another man was beaten up, 10 minutes after the incident of the first assault. A couple were rescued by the police near Venus More and kept inside the traffic signal kiosk but only after they had been slapped around. They were later taken away in a police jeep.

The administration has denied incidents of assault. “No complaint has been lodged,” said Paritosh Roy, the additional district magistrate of Siliguri. Trouble had erupted around 11.30 in the morning. More than 60 Morcha supporters tried to enter the Siliguri Court campus for the indefinite hunger strike in front of the subdivisional office while shouting “CPM murdabad” and “Asok Bhattacharya murdabad”. Bhattacharya is the CPM MLA from Siliguri and the Bengal minister of hills affairs.

Although the court campus was cordoned off, the slogans acted as the trigger. A crowd of about 1,000 people came down onto the streets. Traffic was diverted from Airview More to Sevoke Road through Church Road, as the crowd swelled. Some youths tried to set fire to a motorcycle on Hill cart Road, but were stopped by others.

The tension eased after the police started marching the 2km stretch from the court campus to Airview More.

Nearly 120 Morcha supporters were arrested from the court campus today. Yesterday the number was 274. The party is spearheading the movement for Gorkhaland in the hills.

The Morcha choice of Darjeeling More as venue for its hunger strike tomorrow has been shot down by the administration. “We will go ahead with the programme,” said Roshan Giri, the Morcha general secretary. He said the Morcha would lodge complaint against two CPM leaders, Mukul Sengupta and Shankar Ghosh, for spearheading assaults on its supporters.

In Darjeeling, Morcha president Bimal Gurung appealed to he people to show restraint.

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