Siliguri, April 17 :    Siliguri, April 17:  Under pressure following mounting public resentment and the Election Commission's warning not to disrupt the poll process, GNLF chief Subash Ghising today 'instructed' the party leadership to withdraw the indefinite hill bandh from tomorrow. The GNLF's Darjeeling unit president, Deepak Pradhan, said Ghising had decided to take up the issue of the arrest of the masterminds of the ambush at an 'official' level. The branch committees of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong had, therefore, unanimously decided to call off the bandh, which had been in effect since April 9. 'The decision to withdraw the bandh was taken at a meeting convened by the party president and Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council chairman, Subash Ghising, at the council headquarters in Lalkhoti this morning. The GNLF unit presidents told the party chief about the state government's failure to nab the actual culprits behind the February 10 attack on him. Though the government has failed to arrest the masterminds of the strike, Ghising has been compelled to take up the case officially as the hill council has certain statutory responsibilities towards the people,' Gurung said. The decision comes a day after the Election Commission voiced concern over the bandh in the region which was 'obstructing' the poll process. Darjeeling district magistrate Anil Verma had met the GNLF leadership yesterday and made it clear that despite the bandh, all measures would be taken to ensure that candidates can file their nominations. Moreover, with the tourist season nearing, the hill residents were alarmed at the prospect of losing their revenue. As a face-saver, the GNLF branch committees, which met later this afternoon after receiving Ghising's missive, unanimously decided to withdraw the bandh under 'protest'. 'Ghising expressed serious concern at the sequence of events beginning with the terrorist activities at Tinkataria in Kalimpong last November. We had given the home department ample time to arrest the masterminds and conspirators of the February 10 ambush. The chain of events has unfortunately coincided with the declaration of the Assembly elections. In order to end the deadlock created due to the complete failure of the government and to discharge the constitutional duties of the DGHC, the chairman appealed to the GNLF branch committee presidents to appreciate the emerging situation and to call off the indefinite strike under protest,' Gurung said. 'While thanking the hill residents who had borne the hardship with us, we apprised the hill residents of the party's decision at different public meetings in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong this evening,' he added. The GNLF had called the indefinite bandh to protest against the administration's 'failure' to arrest the key masterminds behind the ambush on Ghising. Immediately after the assassination attempt, the GNLF leadership had shut down the hills for eight days. The bandh was 'temporarily withdrawn' on February 18, but the party gave the government a month to get their hands on those behind the attack. Though 16 people, including militant Gorkha leader Chhattray Subba, had been arrested, the GNLF said the key culprits were still at large. The GNLF described Subba's arrest as an 'eye-wash' and said he was ninth on the conspirators' list. The party gave the police a list of eight people it wanted arrested for the attack. But the police refused to budge, saying they would not arrest anyone unless they got concrete evidence.