Plea for forcesTo clear building

TT, Calcutta, July 24: A Marwari organisation today wrote to the Darjeeling district administration and police, pleading that security personnel vacate the community's building that was being occupied by them in the hill town after the current unrest had begun.

"On June 20, security forces broke open the lock and entered the building without our permission. This is the only building which is used for social, cultural and religious events and also during natural calamities," Rajesh Agarwal, the president of the Marwari Sahayak Samiti, said today.

The organisation said 135 security personnel were staying at the five-storied building on Sonam Wangdi Road in Darjeeling. "The district police had earlier said they would use only two floors and the rest would be available for us. But now they are using the entire premises," a member of the association said.

This is the second time that a dispute has cropped up over the accommodation of the security forces in the hills. Earlier, the authorities of St. Joseph's College (North Point) had alleged that security forces had entered the campus without permission to set up a camp.

In another development, a forum of hill teachers wrote to the Darjeeling district magistrate, seeking resumption of Internet services in hills.