Siliguri police escort for trucks on way to Sikkim

GANGTOK

: Days after the Supreme Court directed the

West Bengal

government to ensure safety of Sikkim-bound goods carriers, the Bengal police stepped into action by escorting trucks carrying essentials to the hill state from Siliguri.

After incidents of attack on Sikkim-registered vehicles coupled with vandalism and looting of goods in Siliguri and adjoining areas for over a month now, the escort was provided by the police till

Salugara

, on the outskirts of Siliguri town. All

Sikkim Truck Drivers Association

president Mingma Sherpa informed that the police escort was provided to more than 130 trucks for safe passage through the vulnerable Siliguri town limits. Police, he said, started providing escort from Monday till Tuesday noon, helping all trucks reach Sikkim from Siliguri. Normal movement of escorted trucks is expected to resume now along NH-10, Sherpa said.

The trucks -loaded with food items and vegetables -were from all four districts of Sikkim. Normal movement of escorted trucks is scheduled to resume shortly as there is free flow along NH-10, a major part of which falls under the bandhhit Darjeeling region. The truckers' body has asked all its members to report attacks and vandalism to police.

The national highway , considered a lifeline of the landlocked hill state, connects it to Siliguri, and any blockade or interruption on it leads to severe scarcity of goods and stalls travellers' movement.


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