Siliguri, June 12: Two hamlets on either side of the Mahananda today came close to a confrontation that could have torn Bengal’s ethnic fabric, underscoring the pitfalls in letting emotive issues run their course.

Residents of Ganesh Ghosh Colony, 1.5km from Siliguri town, and Bhanunagar, a Nepali-dominated cluster across the river, were sucked into a series of skirmishes that could have snowballed into a riot had police not intervened and dispersed the mobs.

As is the norm in powder-keg cases, no one is sure who cast the first stone.

The residents of Ghosh colony headed to Bhanunagar after word spread — till late tonight it could not be confirmed whether it was rumour or fact — that alleged supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had stoned anti-Gorkhaland activists on NH31.

The anti-statehood activists, mostly from Ghosh Colony on the other side of the Mahananda, started crossing the bridge to take on the residents of Bhanunagar. The advancing crowd was armed with catapults bricks, stones and sticks.

The police stopped them on the bridge, at which the bandh supporters threw bricks at the force. The police first chased them, but then had to burst tear gas shells to disperse the agitators.

But the anti-statehood activists crossed the Mahananda — dry in most places and knee-deep in water elsewhere — on foot to target Bhanunagar. About a hundred raced across the river and started throwing stones, damaging some houses in the area.

Dilmaya Dhungel, a Nepali resident, said: “We are in a minority here. With all the tension in the air over the past few days, we were scared and we were inside our homes. Suddenly, we found stones being hurled at our house and glass windowpanes shattering.”

But a police party arrived from the nearby Bhaktinagar. Some Morcha supporters, too, accompanied them. Together, they drove away the Ghosh Colony residents.

Another police posse, led by Siliguri assistant superintendent of police Rajesh Yadav, marched to the Ghosh Colony and had to burst tear gas shells again to scatter the clusters of people.

The force also took control of the bridge. Paritosh Roy, the ADM of Siliguri, reached the spot and announced imposition of Section 144.

“Our well-timed intervention brought the situation under control,” said K.L. Tamta, the IG (north Bengal).

With the administration adopting a hands-off policy till this morning, the supporters of Amra Bangali, which called today’s Siliguri bandh, and the Jana Jagaran have been instigating people in the plains to take on the Nepalis in the area, saying that the hill leaders “were out to acquire Siliguri”.

Ramesh Das, a carpenter who was walking around with a stick in his hand, said: “What they (Amra Bangali and Jana Jagaran leaders) are saying is correct. Why should people from the hills take over Siliguri? If they are driving us out of the hills, how can we have friendship with the hill people living here?”