Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has removed Darjeeling Superintendent of Police Amit Javalgi after he reportedly failed to control the violence in the hills.
Deputy Commissioner (Central), Kolkata Police, Akhilesh Chaturvedi, is likely to be the new SP.
The Chief Minister has set up a three-member team of IPS officers — Jawed Shamim, Ajay Nand and Siddhinath Gupta — to oversee the law and order situation in the hills.
On Friday, Banerjee left Darjeeling around 10 pm and reached Siliguri to monitor the situation from Uttar Kanya, the mini secretariat in North Bengal. She has termed the bandh called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha as illegal.
Meanwhile, the six-member team appointed by Banerjee to conduct a special audit of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) has started its work. The secretary of GTA, Ravinder Singh, has been removed and is being replaced by Barun Roy, the secretary of the North Bengal Development Department.
Two columns of Army were deployed in Darjeeling town after GJM supporters clashed with the police, damaged public property and set police vehicles on fire.
On Saturday, special buses were pressed into service to ferry stranded tourists to Siliguri, Bagdogra and Kolkata.
The situation is peaceful in Darjeeling and some tourists have decided to continue with their holiday.
Trouble started in hills after the state government on May 16 made Bangla ‘compulsory’ in all schools, including private English medium schools of the state.
GJM opposed the move as anti-Gorkha, but Mamata said the real issue was Bimal Gurung-run GTA’s failure in developing the region.
Hitting out at Bimal Gurung, state education minister Partha Chatterjee, said, “We will not let Bengal be divided at any cost. These people are just trying to find an issue to foment trouble. There is no relation between these protests and reading Bengali in schools; Bengali will be an optional fourth subject.”
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