An injured policeman in Siliguri. A Telegraph picture

April 9: The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha reacted swiftly to the clash in Siliguri by shutting down the hills with a bandh that will continue till 6am on Friday.

In Darjeeling, posters announcing the shutdown appeared around 2.30pm, giving people a 30-minute window to get things arranged before the bandh began at 3pm.

Morcha supporters in Kalimpong were slower off the mark. Around 4pm, following a directive from the party central committee, they went around the town in vehicles fitted with loudspeakers to announce the shutdown.

Most shops downed shutters almost immediately and vehicles stayed off the road. Residents had to scurry to do some shopping, while tourists either caught the last cars out of the hills, or got ready to spend a couple of days in their hotel rooms.

Within half-an-hour, the streets of both the towns were deserted.

Manoj Sarda from Delhi and his family were among those who had their tour plans destroyed. “We wanted to go to Kalimpong this evening but had to drop the plan. Hopefully, we can head to Gangtok on Friday,” said Manoj.

Tapati Yash of Teghoria in Calcutta and her daughter Amrita had confirmed tickets on a Jet Airways flight from Bagdogra to Calcutta tomorrow, but were stranded in Darjeeling. “We couldn’t arrange for a car to take us out of the hills today,” said Tapati.

NH31A, which connects Gangtok and Kalimpong with the plains, was blocked for nearly two hours in the evening. A few schools along the highway were forced to suspend classes midway through the afternoon session to enable students to return home.

In Darjeeling, a government vehicle was damaged in the evening. Even Indian Idol Prashant Tamang, back home for the first time after winning the TV reality show, had to come via Mongpoo and reached Darjeeling at night.

“We are keeping a close watch on the developments,” said Darjeeling additional superintendent of police Jayanta Pal. “If the situation permits, we will escort tourists out of Darjeeling and other places tomorrow.”

The Morcha brought out a procession in Darjeeling late in the evening to “condemn the administration’s action against the ex-servicemen”.