Siliguri, Feb. 4: A shopkeeper died in a hospital in Naxalbari after he was stabbed at Panitanki by two men from Nepal this morning. Although the accused have been arrested, shops on the Indian side downed shutters in protest. Vehicles, too, stopped plying to Panitanki, located on the India-Nepal border, from Siliguri and Kharibari.

Thirty-year-old Bijen Singh had sided against Birendra Dahal and Baidya Chankchu, when the two got embroiled in an altercation with medicine shop owner Gobindchand Mondal around 11am. Both Dahal and Chankchu are residents of Satashidham in the Jhapa district of Nepal. At the end of the argument, the duo stabbed Singh. However, they were caught by local traders who burnt their motorcycles. They were rescued by Kharibari police and have been admitted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Later Rajesh Yadav, the additional superintendent of police (ASP) of Siliguri, and Pradip Dutta, the Siliguri deputy superintendent of police, visited the spot to pacify the traders. Dutta said the traders had also ransacked the medicine shop, the owner of which is absconding. The traders alleged that the medicine shop sold prescription drugs across the counter and addicts frequently flocked there.

“We had often asked police to take action against drug peddlers and addicts. Today’s incident only shows what happens when law enforcers fail to do their job,” said Dhaneswar Burman, the vice-president of Panitanki Khuchra Byabsayi Samiti.

The police, however, have dismissed the allegations. “We conduct regular raids and if somebody has any specific information, they can approach us,” said the ASP.

The bar on traffic movement on the India-Nepal border, imposed by the Sashastra Seema Bal, continued for the second day. Members of the Sanghia Limbuan Parishad, seeking recognition from the Nepal government, had set a few vehicles ablaze yesterday. Among them was an Indian car. “Around 300 traders of Dhulabari and the Birtamore area of eastern Nepal have suffered a loss of about Rs 1 crore in the past two days,” said Vijay Dalmia, the chairman of the Mechi Chamber of Commerce and Industries.