Darjeeling unrest: IRB commandant killed, as GJM activists clash with security forces

Darjeeling: An assistant commandant of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) was killed when Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) activists clashed with security forces on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_3707133” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Darjeeling has been witnessing violent protests over the last week. PTI[/caption] The IRB second battalion assistant commandant Kiran Tamang was critically injured after being hit by a ‘khukri’ (sharp-edged weapon) during the clash, IRB sources said. He was taken to the hospital where he died, they said. GJM leader Binay Tamang claimed that two of his party workers were killed when the police opened fire at a procession. ADG (law and order) Anuj Sharma, however, denied the allegation and said the police did not open fire. “It was the GJM activists who opened fire,” he said. As the indefinite shutdown to demand a separate state entered its third day, GJM activists took out a protest rally from the GJM headquarters in Singmari. As prohibitory orders were in force in the area, the police told the protesters, who were carrying the tricolour and GJM flags, to return. The slogan-shouting protesters did not relent and started throwing stones and bottles at the police. A vehicle was also set on fire. The police fired teargas shells and baton-charged the agitators.