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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Separatists say one killed amid violence in Darjeeling

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DARJEELING: Fresh violence erupted in Darjeeling on Saturday after a separatist group accused police of killing a supporter, prompting forces to fire tear gas as the hill resort reels from weeks-long unrest.


Bouts of clashes and arson attacks have rattled the picturesque hill station for more than three weeks, causing schools and shops to shut down as thousands of mostly Indian tourists pack their bags and flee.


The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) — a movement that has long called for a separate state for ethnic Gorkhas in West Bengal — accused police of shooting dead 31-year-old Tashi Bhutia late on Friday.


“(He) was shot dead by police at Sonada on the outskirts of Darjeeling town when he was returning home from a medicine shop,” GJM’s general secretary Roshan Giri said.


But authorities, including West Bengal tourism minister Gautam Dev, have denied GJM’s latest allegation, saying they were unaware of any death and that “police did not open fire”.


The news of his death sparked anger among supporters who set ablaze and destroyed parts of a police station and train terminal as baton-wielding forces responded with tear gas and rubber pellets.


Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee deployed the army again to quell heightened tensions, which she has described as a “deep-rooted conspiracy”.


Meanwhile, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday accused Mamata Banerjee of not cooperating with the central government over the Darjeeling unrest and accused the state government of returning forces sent by the Centre.


The comments of Union Minister of State for Power follows Banerjee’s accusation that the central government was not cooperating over the violent agitation in Darjeeling, which is witnessing a prolonged movement demanding a separate state of Gorkhaland.


“We condemn Mamata Banerjee’s politics... Home Minister Rajnath Singh called her (Banerjee) twice and asked her to normalise the situation in Darjeeling. We were sending forces, but Mamata Banerjee’s Principal Secretary stopped them (forces),” Goyal told a press conference in New Delhi.


“The truth should come out before the country. She (Banerjee) is making false allegations on the Centre...she should be held answerable for this,” Goyal said.


Banerjee on Saturday accused the central government of “non-cooperation” over the situation in Darjeeling and claimed the crisis could have been averted through timely deployment of central forces.


Home Ministry sources in Delhi said West Bengal sent back four companies of the BSF and four companies of additional paramilitary forces. — AFP/IANS


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