Bandobast in place to thwart month-long stir in Darjeeling

[Mamata Banerjee holds a meeting with district officials in Siliguri to discuss the situation in Darjeeling]

SILIGURI/KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government is taking all steps to thwart the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's month long strike in state government offices and banks in the Hills. The state government has extended free bus services for yet another day till Sunday to carry tourists in the Hills to New Jalpaiguri railway station and Bagdogra airport. The state transport department will also run additional buses from the Hills to Kolkata.

GJM general secretary Roshan Giri has also promised to keep transport out of the ambit of the non-cooperation agitation to allow tourists to get down to the plains.

Soon after the CM's meeting with senior state officials, the state issued a circular to government employees asking them to report to duty from Monday . The district administration is also making arrangements for pick-up-and drop vehicles to ferry employees particularly from the remote areas.

Additional police forces have been deployed in the Hills to combat the joint offensive -the GJM shutdown call in government offices and the trade union strike call in the tea gardens beginning Monday . The state government also lifted restrictions on the movement of commercial vehicles from the plains -Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri -to aggregate vehicles from these areas during exigency . All the police stations in the Hills and also in Terai and Dooars have been put on alert following the CM's discussions with state home secretary Moloy De and director general of police Surajit Kar Purakayastha.

Taking the cue from the CM, the state government ordered a shuffle in the Darjeeling Police with the two ICs of the im portant police stations of Kurseong and Kalingpong being replaced by fresh faces.The decision comes hours after SP (Darjeeling) Amit Javalgi was sent on compulsory waiting. DC (central Kolkata) Akhilesh Chturvedi, who has experience of heading the VIP zone consisting of Raj Bhawan, Writers' Buildings and Lalbazar along with trading hubs -the protest nerve centre of the city will be replacing him.

Sources said Chaturvedi was rushed to the Hills on Saturday even before the formal orders were typed. All these officers will work under the guidance of the three-member IPS panel comprising Siddhi Nath Gupta (ADG& IGP ,) Jawed Shamim (IGP) and Ajay Kumar Nand (IGP). Top sources said the DGP , too, has been asked to camp more in the Hills.

However, most of the 50-odd bank branches and around 70 ATMs spread over the Hills are not going to take the risk. They are likely to remain closed during the month long Gorkha Janmukti Morcha agitation except on Mondays and Thursday -relaxations announced by the GJM.

"Bank employees usually try to come to office. But if forced to down the shutters, we won't confront the agitators because it runs the risk of damage of property. Besides, the security of our employees is also of prime importance," the SBI spokesperson said. An official of UBI endorsed the view. He assured citizens that ATMs will have enough cash to meet the consumers' needs. "We will be getting ample opportunity to fill in the ATMs with cash at least twice a week. Running ATMs won't be a problem if the agitators allow people to use them," he said.

[TOI]