One Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporter and a police sub-inspector were killed on Friday after violent clashes erupted between the GJM and the West Bengal police in Darjeeling hills, India on Friday, media reports said. 

According to Times Now, the violence erupted on Friday after the police raided a location suspected to be GJM arms stock house. The GJM cadres retaliated after police opened fire, sources said.

The police conducted an early morning raid at Takvar area near Patlibash, after receiving an intelligence input that absconding GJM chief Bimal Gurung might be hiding there, the report added.  The GJM cadres resisted the police advance resulting in violent clashes.

The region’s Nepali-speaking Gorkha community has long been holding protests demanding a separate Gorkhaland state within India to protect their Himalayan culture.