Siliguri, July 4: A commando force likely to be armed with assault rifles and automatic pistols has been raised to encounter “riot-like” situations in Darjeeling district.

“The basic idea is to maintain a stand-alone force and trained personnel in police stations to handle riot-like situations or any other serious breach of law and order,” district superintendent of police Rahul Srivastava said today.

“Considering some of the past incidents and the vulnerability of the area, the decision to raise the force was taken,” he added.

The commandos, to be stationed in Darjeeling town and Siliguri, will be under the district police chief’s command.

Police sources said senior officers selected young and able constables for the force following instructions from Calcutta.

Srivastava refused to speak in detail on the arms and ammunition the crack teams were likely to carry but sources said they would be armed with “sophisticated weapons like 9mm pistols and assault rifles”.

The district police have spent around Rs 10 lakh on the gear for the 120 personnel to be posted initially. These include helmets, fibreglass visors, shin guards, chest guards, batons and shields.

“Once the cadets of the first group are posted, we plan to raise another such group of 70, selected from the district police force. This force would be there in addition to the central paramilitary companies that are likely to be posted in the district,” Srivastava said.

Since last September, Siliguri has seen a series of violent incidents during which the administration had to call in the army or the paramilitary.

On September 28, Siliguri residents clashed with supporters of Indian Idol contestant Prashant Tamang, a man from the hills.

Police firing killed one person that day before army platoons took to the streets.

This year, on May 2, Gorkhaland supporters were beaten up while they were attempting to sit on a hunger strike near the subdivisional office in Siliguri.

After that came the attack by Bagdogra residents on Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters blocking National Highway 31 demanding permission for a public meeting in Naxalbari.

In June, residents of two colonies on the outskirts of Siliguri attacked Nepali-speaking people.

Many of the clashes had overtones of an ethnic strife.

A police officer said: “The new force, especially meant for such situations, will help curb violence faster.”

The handpicked commandos have been trained “to tackle different situations”, the district police chief said. “They will be posted in groups of 15 in police stations in the sensitive areas.”

Over 400 “volunteers”, mostly from the hills, who had helped the police during the Gorkhaland agitation in the ’80s and had been working since, have been employed permanently as home-guards.