SIKKIM: CRPF patrols Sikkim lifeline

Feb. 23: Less than 24 hours after two companies of the CRPF arrived in Siliguri, they were deployed along NH31A to keep the lifeline to Sikkim free of blockades. The third company of the central force also arrived in Siliguri today.

In Sukna, on the outskirts of Siliguri, where one company is billeted at Pintail Village, the CRPF personnel patrolled the area which was deserted for the second day running after a mob set on fire the police outpost there on Sunday night. This led to police raids and 18 people were arrested.

Shops and establishments in Sukna were shut but traffic remained normal, much like yesterday.

The inspector-general of police, north Bengal. K.L. Tamta, said all three companies had been deployed at strategic points along NH31A. “Two of the companies have moved out to the Kalimpong subdivision and will be patrolling NH31A from the Coronation Bridge to Rangpo, the gateway to Sikkim. Their sole task would be to ensure that the highway remains open to traffic round-the-clock and will intervene if there are any blockades,” Tamta said.

He said the CRPF personnel marched through Sukna and the neighbouring area in the morning to ensure peace in the area.

According to senior police officers in Kalimpong, one of the companies had moved into a fisheries office complex at Reang village, 40km from Siliguri, around 4am today.

Another company went up to Kalimpong, as there was no suitable accommodation at Rangpo. The officer said the company posted at Reang will patrol NH31A from Coronation Bridge to 29 Mile, while the one in Kalimpong will look after the stretch between Teesta and Rangpo, a distance of 35km, the officer said.

The company in Kalimpong has put up at the state library hall near Thanadara and at the empty Birla House in Upper Cart Road.

The CRPF has been deployed on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court to the central and state governments to ensure that NH31A is not blocked to traffic during strikes called in the region. The court was acting on a petition filed by O.P. Bhandari, a Sikkim resident, who had complained that frequent blockades on the highway by pro and anti-Gorkhaland forces cut off the Himalayan state that had neither a rail or air link, save a helicopter service.

source:telegraph