Papers with ‘Gorkhaland’ printed on them have replaced ‘West Bengal’ on signboards hung outside state government offices in Darjeeling (Top) and Sukna. In Kalimpong (Bottom), the signboard in front of the subdivisional office was removed on Thursday night. Pictures by Suman Tamang, Kundan Yolmo and Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Oct. 17: Groups of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters in traditional clothes today marched into state government offices in the hills, blackened the “West Bengal” on signboards with paint and pasted papers with “Gorkhaland” printed on them in their places.

At the end of the day, nearly 10 signboards in Darjeeling town read “Government of Gorkhaland”.

True to its word, the district administration offered little resistance. Last week, home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti had said the government would avoid confrontation and go for persuasion instead.

District magistrate Surendra Gupta had spoken on similar lines yesterday.

The first office targeted by the Morcha supporter was the DGHC-run Desbandhu District Library on Chowrastha Road.

By afternoon, the boards in front of the offices of the district compensation, Nepali translation (law department), probation officer of jail (home department) and the district commandant (West Bengal National Volunteer Force) — all located at Maldon in Chowrastha had signboards with “Gorkhaland” stuck on them.

In Kurseong, the offices of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Allahabad Bank had “Gorkhaland” written on the signboards. However, the offices of the SDO and the divisional forest officer had been left out.

Signboards of most offices in Kalimpong had been removed last night. However, those belonging to private establishments were in place, as they do not have the name of the state (West Bengal) written on them.

In Sukna, the entry point to the hills, the Morcha supporters promised to do a “permanent job” tomorrow. Today, they had to make do with stickers.

“Tomorrow, we plan to wipe out ‘West Bengal’ from the boards with black ink and write Gorkhaland, as it has been done in the hills,” said Madhusudan Thapa, the secretary of the Siliguri sub-division committee of the Morcha. “We have also pasted stickers (Gorkhaland) on the signboards of shops and private establishments. The exercise will continue tomorrow.” The offices of the forest department, Sukna panchayat and animal husbandry, primary health centre and the sericulture research station were among those that were targeted.

The Gorkha Janmukti Yuva Morcha has decided to set up pickets at Mirik More in Sukna and at other entry points to the hills from tomorrow to stop ‘non-GL’ vehicles from plying. “They would be allowed to enter only after they sport ‘GL’ number plates,” said Raj Singh, the vice-president of the Sukna branch of the Yuva Morcha.

Morcha president Bimal Gurung, who addressed a meeting at Chowrastha today, said nobody should interfere with the central government signboards. “We want to show (through change of boards) that we do not want to be in West Bengal.”

The Darjeeling district magistrate said the board in front of his office had not been defaced. “I have heard that such incidents have occurred elsewhere and will decide on further course of action after I get reports,” said Gupta hinting that the administration might file a complaint to initiate legal action against the offenders. However, no FIR was lodged till late this evening.

In Calcutta, the home secretary said the district magistrate and superintendent of police have been instructed to initiate cases against those responsible for defacing government property.

“In the plains, pro-Gorkhaland protesters at Banarhat and Sukna had erased government names in two forest beat offices. However, the original names have been restored and cases started against the offenders,’’ said Chakrabarti.