Darjeeling hills limp back to normalcy on Saturday after two days of tense situation

West Bengal Chief Minister, who returned to Siliguri on Friday evening, met with a team of high-ranking government officials on Saturday, according to media reports.

The CM decided to stay back in Darjeeling following the violent unrest on Thursday and ensured that tourists to the hill station were able to return to the plains safely and continue with their onward journey.

On Thursday, the Chief Minister held a Cabinet Meeting in Darjeeling, when the local Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), led by Bimal Gurung, began to protest against various issues, including the alleged teaching of Bengali in the schools in Darjeeling and demands for a separate state.

The protesters turned violent, pelting the police with stones and setting fire to government vehicles, media reports said. The police had to resort to lathi-charge and firing teargas shells.

As the situation worsened, the state government requisitioned for help from the Indian Army.

The Army, along with the CRPF jawans, patrolled Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong on Friday as the GJM had called a 'bandh' in the hills, However, no major incident was reported.

West Bengal CM has termed the GJM violence as "abhorrent" and said that the hills are peaceful now.

Meanwhile, entry to Bhanu Bhavan, the GTA headquarters, has been banned for two months as the six-member audit team will work there, checking through the utilisation of the money given to the GTA by the state government, media reports said.

According to a section of the media, Darjeeling Superintendent of Police, Amit Javalgi has been removed from his post after he reportedly failed to control the violence in the hills.

The CM is expected to return to Kolkata on Saturday, media reports said.

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