Siliguri, Feb. 3: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Darjeeling district police have stopped all vehicles from entering as well as leaving the country through the Panitanki border with Nepal following an unrest in the Himalayan kingdom.

Over 60 Indian vehicles have been held up at Panitanki, about 40km from here, since yesterday evening, and are waiting to cross into Nepal.

In a bid to demand recognition from the Nepal government, the Limbus of Jhapa, Dharan, Koshi and Narayani districts had staged protests in the eastern part of country. The Youth Communist League, a breakaway faction of the Communist Party of Nepal, has also joined the movement, sources said.

Trouble started when the two groups were collecting subscription from people to fund their movement. According to sources, some of the members were apprehended by the Nepal police and the SSB after there were complaints of coercion.

The protesters then torched an Indian vehicle at Dhulabari in Nepal (located about 60km from here) and damaged a couple of others.

“We have stopped all the Indian vehicles on the border at Panitanki to avoid further incidents of violence,” said S.L. Sarkar, the commandant of the 22nd Battalion of the SSB in Ranidanga. “Most of the vehicles are trucks loaded with goods.”

Vigil has been beefed up along the border and the police stations have been alerted.

“We have not received any news of further incidents of violence from either side. But we are keeping a close watch on the situation,” said R.J.S. Nalwa, the inspector-general of police, north Bengal.