Siliguri, April 9: Leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Greater Cooch Behar Democratic Party and the Kamtapur Progressive Party (KPP-Atul Roy faction) met for the second time this morning at a spot, 3km from Darjeeling More, which turned into a battlefield a couple of hours later.

The leaders had first met in Darjeeling on March 26 and decided to work together to push for separate states of Gorkhaland and Greater Cooch Behar.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung told reporters in the evening that there would be a 24-hour bandh in the district from 6am tomorrow to protest against the police action on ex-servicemen. Atul Roy and Greater Cooch Behar’s Ashutosh Barma said their parties would support it.

The leaders also announced a series of joint public meetings in the hills and the plains in the coming days. The venues are Baghajatin Park in Siliguri (April 27), Cooch Behar (May 4), Darjeeling (May 11), Raiganj (May 25), and Jalpaiguri (June 8). “We have adopted a joint resolution on our strategy,” said Gurung.

Asked if these meetings had official permission, Gurung said the leaders were yet to approach the respective administrations.

“If permission is refused, we will have to think of alternative ways to get our message across to the people,” the Morcha chief added.