Kolkata, November 25:

Tension continued to prevail in West Bengal’s northern hill district of Darjeeling today as an indefinite shutdown called by Gorkha National Liberation Front to protest the attack on its leader by rival party supporters entered its second day.

“The situation is tense in the hills and section 144 is still being imposed there. There’s a total shutdown, which impacted life in Darjeeling, Kerseong and Kalimgpong subdivisions on Sunday,” West Bengal Inspector General RJS Nawla said over phone. Violence rocked Darjeeling on Friday after GNLF leader and former Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) councillor KB Gurung was attacked by its rival party workers of the Gorkha Jana Mukti Morcha (GJMM). After the incident, GJMM party workers led by Bimal Gurung went on a rampage destroying houses of GNLF workers.

The sporadic clashes between the rival factions left 11 people injured in the hills.

“The response to the shutdown call is quite good, as no one wants to get into any trouble. To control the situation, police and the rapid action force have been deployed. No incident of clash has been reported so far,” Nawla said.