Crowd goes after ‘GL’ car

Siliguri, Nov. 17: A Maruti van of the Kurseong Municipality with “GL” numberplate and “on duty” was seized this morning after residents of Nibedita Road in Pradhannagar forced it to stop.

The driver, Rajesh Primal, has been detained by police. Around 30 people surrounded the vehicle and started abusing the driver, who immediately fled the spot. He came back after the police arrived around 11.40am.

By then, the windscreens and window glasses had been smashed. A few dents had also appeared on the exterior of the van, which had been pelted with stones.



The men in khaki dispersed the crowd and the damaged vehicle, still sporting the numberplate —GL-02C-3722 — was taken to the police station.

“When we asked the driver about the number plate, he pleaded ignorance and said he had forgotten to change it before entering Siliguri from Kurseong,” said Swapan Ghosh, the inspector-in-charge of Pradhannagar police station. “He has been detained and the vehicle seized for violating the motor vehicles act.” Although vehicles with “GL” numberplates are not stopped in the hills, the police in the plains have been told to be strict with them.

The police later said that one of the engineers serving at the hill municipality used the vehicle.

Khati grilled

A four-member team of Delhi police arrived in Kalimpong today with an arrest warrant against ABGL leader Pratap Khati in connection with a fraud case. Khati was grilled till late in the evening.

In November 2006, another Delhi police team had visited the town in connection with the same case in which Real Service, a placement agency based in the capital, was alleged to have duped eight persons from the hills of about Rs 16 lakh. The victims had said they had paid the money to the placement agency in 2003 through its local franchisee, Global Placements, which was run by Khati.