Darjeeling district police have arrested 14 persons from different police station areas of Siliguri subdivision for suspected involvement in the encroachment of government and private land and for illegal land deals.

The crackdown follows specific instructions from chief minister Mamata Banerjee to rein in the land mafia and people associated with illegal extraction of minor minerals like sand and stones from riverbeds of the district.

After the missive from Mamata, Siliguri Metropolitan Police had launched a drive against these people and arrested over 70 persons so far.

Darjeeling district police also initiated a similar crackdown.

Manoranjan Ghosh, the additional superintendent of police of Kurseong, who reached Naxalbari on Sunday, said they made arrests from a number of locations. In Siliguri subdivision, the police stations of Naxalbari, Kharibari and Phansidewa come under the jurisdiction of Darjeeling district police.

“Based on specific complaints, 14 persons have been arrested so far from different places over the past few days. The drive against the land grabbers will continue in the coming days,” he said.

According to him, eight persons were nabbed from Naxalbari, four from Kharibari and two from areas which are under Sevoke police outpost.

These people sold government land which they had encroached, police sources said.

In the Siliguri police commissionerate area, nine land grabbers were arrested by New Jalpaiguri and Pradhannagar police in the past 48 hours.

“So far, 77 people have been arrested in the commissionerate area. Searches are on to find some others who have gone into hiding. We are using the intelligence and surveillance networks to trace them,” said a police officer.

Train accident

An aged woman of Malda town died on Saturday afternoon when she was hit on the tracks by the Calcutta-bound Kanchanjunga Express. Her lifeless body got stuck to the cowcatcher of the train’s loco and was dragged for 12km.

Jhapani Mandal, 77, was crossing the tracks at Malanchapally of Malda town, when she didn’t notice the train coming towards her, said sources.

The train hit her. At Khaltipur station, 12km away, bystanders noticed her body stuck to the cowcatcher.

They informed the Government Railway Police in Malda. The driver was communicated and he stopped the train at the station.

It took around one and half hours to retrieve the body from the cowcatcher. At around 2.20pm, the train left for Calcutta.