West Bengal writes to Centre, demands 10 companies of CRPF

Barely two days after getting the Army withdrawn from the Darjeeling hills, the West Bengal government on Friday rushed to the Centre, seeking 10 companies of the CRPF to contain the situation.

“We had asked for 10 companies of CRPF from the Centre for the hills earlier. But they had sent us only four companies of women police personnel and three companies of SSB. We have again asked them for 10 companies of CRPF in the hills,” state director general of police Surajit Kar Purkayastha said.

Currently, there is only state police but no Army in the hills.

Describing the unrest as “destructive activities of some extremists”, Purakayastha said the state government would not tolerate it and would take strong action against those responsible.

“Some destructive incidents have occurred in the hills. Some extremist-sponsored destructions in the name of protests were going on. Our police has shown optimum tolerance but the state will not tolerate all this and strong action will be taken against those found guilty... Culprits will be arrested,” he said.

Going by the current situation in the hills following ransacking of government offices by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha activists and enforcing an indefinite bandh for carving out a separate state of Gorkhaland out of West Bengal, the state government has decided to send DG & IGP (Home Guards) Raj Kanojia, the DGP said.

The state government earlier had sent senior police officials to the hills amid the ongoing GJM agitation there. The state government has also decided to provide a compensation of ₹2.5 lakh to the family members of truck driver Aniket Chhetri who died at the SSKM on Thursday.

“We will compensate Chhetri’s family and will offer job to any one member,” he said.