4 Bikes, car torched in hills

VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, 8 Nov 2019, Darjeeling: Four two-wheelers and a car were set on fire around midnight near the residence of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (Bimal Gurung camp) leader Roshan Giri in the heart of Darjeeling town.

Police have not found any "political angle" in the arson at Chandmari, a neighbourhood once inhabited by many Bengalis. Forensic experts have, however, been called in to examine the site.

Sources said so many vehicles had not been set on fire together in Darjeeling recently.

A resident of Chandmari, M. Sharma, said: "There was lot of noise -- we heard people screaming fire, fire -- around 12.40am today. We tried to douse the flames with water and than sand Sharma, who owned one of the two-wheelers that was set on fire, said the attack seemed to have been perpetrated by "outsiders" as such an incident was unheard of.

In Darjeeling, where the crime rate has traditionally been lower than other districts, the incident has come as a surprise. "Chandmari has always been peaceful, but this incident is shocking," said Sharma.

Chandmari was once a hub of Bengali residents. Many left A police officer on Thursday checks one of the bikes torched in Darjeeling after the statehood agitation in 1986. "We are now around 50 Bengali families. Before 1986 there were more than 500 Bengal families," said a member of the community.

Now, Chandmari has a decent presence of businessmen who are mostly Biharis and Marwaris.

The police said the investigation "so far" suggested that the arson attack was most probably the handiwork of "miscreants".

"Suspects are being rounded up. Night patrol has been intensified and we are considering installing CCTV cameras," said a police source.

Darjeeling has been grappling with the problem of on- road parking even though the regional transport authority office insists on a "garage" before registering a vehicle.

"One never knows, but some group might have been rattled by roadside parking," said a resident. All the vehicles that had been torched were parked along the narrow lane of Chandmari.