Darjeeling, June 2: The simmering tension between the Shasastra Suraksha Bal (SSB) jawans and residents of Simana along the India-Nepal border today reached a flashpoint with the powerful Darjeeling Gorkha Transport Joint Action Committee demanding that the SSB be removed from the border area.

The Transporters’ Association affiliated to the Gorkha National Liberation Front has given an ultimatum of 15 days for the withdrawal, failing which the committee has threatened to call a transport strike in the hills.

The tension is the fallout of Sunday’s incident in which two drivers, Anup Rai and Bijay Tamang, were allegedly assaulted by SSB jawans.

Nim Tshering Bhutia, the president of the action committee, said: “The SSB has always harassed tourists and the local people. We demand that they be withdrawn immediately.”

Sunday’s incident also triggered protests from the residents of Simana — a border village on the Mirik-Darjeeling route — who staged a blockade, but the tension defused after the arrival of police and the SSB on the scene.

“The SSB usually harass drivers who travel on the Darjeeling-Mirik route and this has become intolerable. The drivers cannot do much against them and have to remain mute spectators even as the harassment continues,” said Bhutia.

The posting of the SSB along the area is crucial, as the Maoists have been increasingly making their presence felt. Only in April, around 3,000 Maoists had targeted Pashupati Nagar, on the India-Nepal border, and torched government buildings.

Even though the SSB were posted a mere 500 metres from the scene of attack, the personnel could do little. The SSB had drawn considerable flak after the incident.

Given the heightened Maoist activity on the other side of the border, it is unlikely that the administration would agree to withdraw the SSB as demanded by the joint action committee.

Senior SSB officials were not available for comment.