(Top) Home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti (circled) boards the Darjeeling Mail at New Jalpaiguri station. (Above) A man throws a stone at Bihar More in Bagdogra. Pictures by Kundan Yolmo

Bagdogra, June 8: A Gorkha Janmukti Morcha roadblock and the clashes it triggered between the hill party and the plains people ruined what could have been a boom day for the bazaar here before Jamai Sashthi.

Sunday is the weekly haat (market) day and many traders had anticipated good business on the eve of the annual ritual to fete sons-in-law.

But the turnout in the markets was low from the morning as most shoppers anticipated trouble because of the roadblock. The stalls shut down within minutes around midday as the mobs started pelting each other with stones.

“All hopes of good business were dashed early in the day,” said trader Kamakhya Ghosh.

“I had never seen such a thing in my life,” said Amit Ghosh, a resident of Bihar More. “Bagdogra is a laid-back town where all communities live in peace and this is what we have always taken pride in. It is unfortunate that we are fighting among ourselves.”

A large number of airport-bound cars were stuck in the two-hour roadblock.

Madanlal Agarwal was on his way to Mumbai, where his wife Hansa Devi Agarwal is to be hospitalised. “We don’t know what to do. It is chaos all around,” said Agarwal, while his car stood still only about a kilometre from the airport.

He could, however, make it on time after the block was lifted at 1.40pm.

In Siliguri, hill affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya said the Morcha was “100 per cent responsible” for the clashes and that “endless” rallies, hunger strikes and protests by the hill party “were testing the patience of residents, be it in Bagdogra or Naxalbari”.

The party has been demanding a separate Gorkhaland state, carved out of the Darjeeling hills, the Dooars and Siliguri.

“The Morcha leaders are continuously using various tactics to create pressure on the government. We condemn such moves when talks are possible. They are creating tension everywhere. We urge them to lift the hunger strikes and work for the development of the hills,” Bhattacharya said.

Morcha supporters are on fast at various places in north Bengal demanding permission to hold a public meeting in Naxalbari.

The minister said the Jana Chetana, which clashed with the Morcha, represented the residents of the area. “The organisation is in no way connected to the CPM or any political party. A similar group has come up in Naxalbari because the people are getting fed up with the Morcha agitation.”

The home secretary, he added, would “submit a report to the chief minister on his return to Calcutta tomorrow”.