Siliguri, Jan. 24: The GNLF has decided to lay siege to the police outpost at Panighata to protest against the attack on party leaders yesterday, allegedly by the supporters of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

“We have decided to gherao the local police outpost that comes under Mirik police station, protesting the attack and demanding immediate arrest of the Morcha supporters involved in the incident,” said Rajen Mukhia, the convener of the Terai committee of the GNLF, this evening. “If police do not take any step, we will be on the streets, protesting Morcha atrocities.”

Dawa Pakhrin, a central committee member of the GNLF and Kalimpong branch president, criticised the Morcha leaders for allegedly ransacking the houses of two former party leaders in Darjeeling today and branded the attackers “inferior to animals”.

Pakhrin said at a media conference in Siliguri: “We want to remind the state government that the situation in the hills today is not same as it was in 2008 (after the emergence of the Morcha). It is better not to underestimate the GNLF and we insist that the government take steps against the Morcha supporters who were involved in the attack.”

A police complaint has been filed against four local Morcha leaders for yesterday’s attack. However, no one has been arrested. Denying the allegations, Morcha media and publicity secretary Harka Bahadur Chhetri said: “They are trying to malign our image.”