The police on Thursday lobbed teargas shells and batoncharged workers of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) to disperse them during their march to ‘Uttarkanya, the West Bengal government branch secretariat here.

The protestors, who were demanding transparency in the recruitment process of state government jobs, alleged that the police action against them was “unprovoked”.

While the law enforcers claimed that the workers of DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M), had violated prohibitory orders, Minakshi Mukherjee, the state secretary of the organisation, said the rallyists were peacefully proceeding towards ‘Uttarkanya’.

“We wanted to give a deputation to North Bengal Development minister, but the police batoncharged us without any provocation,” she told reporters.

Alleging illegalities in appointments in West Bengal government jobs and demanding transparency in the recruitment process in the face of several cases of irregularities having surfaced in the appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools, the DYFI organised the ‘Uttarkanya Abhiyan’ on Thursday.

A large contingent of police stopped the DYFI supporters at Tinbatti More area, when some rallyists broke through a barricade and a scuffle ensued between the police and the protestors.

Traffic movement in parts of Siliguri city was disrupted owing to the scuffles.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)