Army deployed in tense W Bengal

Foreign and domestic tourists have fled the violence

The Indian army has been deployed in and around the West Bengal town of Siliguri, after rising violence between Bengali and Nepali-speaking people.

The authorities have banned assemblies of five or more persons from gathering in and around the town.

More than 30 people have been injured in recent ethnic clashes.

Tension between the two communities over access to jobs and living space has escalated following a strike by the Nepali-speaking Gorkha community.

The regional Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) called the strike to demand a separate state and "fairer treatment" for the Gorkha community in West Bengal's hilly and tea-producing Darjeeling region.

On Wednesday it called the strike off until Saturday to allow tourists - mostly Bengalis and West Bengal Government employees but also some foreigners - to leave the region.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya told journalists that the army would help to maintain law and order.

"We have to take control of the situation, so we are not taking chances and calling the army out," Mr Bhattacharya told journalists in Calcutta.

Clashes between Bengalis and Nepalis broke out on the highway that connects Siliguri with the Darjeeling hill region soon after the GJM strike was announced.