Darjeeling:
Normal life was paralysed as an indefinite bandh began on Saturday in Darjeeling for a separate Gorkhaland state.
All shops, markets, schools, colleges, government and private offices, banks, post offices remained closed in the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong in the district with the shutdown beginning at 6:00 am.
Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) workers were on the roads in the hills and were seen checking vehicles with emergency stickers on them. All other transport was off the roads.
GJM President Bimal Gurung said his party would talk only to the Centre and it was 'useless' to talk to the West Bengal government.
"The UPA government has announced creation of Telangana overruling opposition from the West Bengal government. Why should not they do it in the case of creating a separate Gorkhaland?" the GJM president asked.
Stating that Gorkhas had sacrificed themselves for the country and that Gorkhaland should be conceded, he said, "There is no use talking to the West Bengal government as it cannot do anything in this regard."
Regarding measures the state government would have to take over violence in Darjeeling, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, stated that, "Already firm decisions have been taken."
One company of the CRPF, including women personnel, were on patrol on the streets, official sources said. GJM youth wing members rolled bare-bodied on the streets in Darjeeling town demanding statehood and withdrawal of CRPF from the hills.
A report from Kalimpong said that women GJM members lit a bonfire in the town and shouted slogans demanding Gorkhaland.
Official sources said that work in tea gardens and cinchona plantations, which were exempted from the purview of the bandh called by the GJM, was unaffected.
Meanwhile, the six-member GJM team led by party general secretary Roshan Giri that reached Delhi contacted several MPs and apprised them of the Gorkhaland statehood demand.
Darjeeling Superintendent of Police Kunal Agarwal said the total number of arrests in the hills has risen to six.