Even as the indefinite shutdown of the Darjeeling Hills called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha entered its third day, police continued to stay off the streets while Gorkhaland Personnel (GLP), a special cadre raised by the GJM as part of its youth wing, patrolled the streets to enforce the bandh.

Raised during the latter part of 2008, the GLP’s strength, according to sources in the district administration, is around 6,000. The GJM sources put the figure at 11,000.

Comprising youths of both sexes, the GLP is trained in unarmed combat by ex-servicemen affiliated to the GJM, and given rigorous physical training, mostly by former jawans and officers of Gorkha regiments.

The GJM, as part of its bandh call to press for its demands that include shifting our of IG (North Bengal) K L Tamta, has demanded that except for the SP, the state police should not venture out during the bandh.

Senior police officers said the police in Darjeeling were doing just that. “It’s not that we’re obeying their diktat. We don’t want to give them another excuse for agitation. If our men venture out in official vehicles and are stopped by bandh enforcers, including the GLP, we will not listen to them. It could lead to a confrontation and a fresh flashpoint. We don’t want that. It’s better to wait and watch,” police sources said, adding that in case any untoward incidents take place, the police will be deployed immediately.

Sources said GLP inductees were being trained openly in many places, including Garubathan on the Darjeeling-Jalpaiguri district border where the GJM leadership had camped for several weeks in a bid to hold pro-Gorkhaland rallies in the Dooars.

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