Sen had promised to meet them after KPP activists agreed to lift a road blockade near Siliguri that had stalled his convoy on December 20, when the home secretary was going to Darjeeling to attend the tripartite talks between the Centre, the state and the GJM.

“There were many cars that got blocked and I checked with them what they wanted. They said they wanted to talk to me.  I agreed and that is how they came to me today,” Sen said after a six-member delegation of KPP met him at his office demanding a separate state of Kamtapur.

The KPP says the proposed state will comprise 10 districts of Assam, six districts of north Bengal and two districts of Bihar.

“We are also plagued with problems like infiltration. We also want that Kamtapuri language be included in the 8th schedule of Indian Constitution. The home secretary said the government would look into them,” said Anarul Shaikh, a leader of the party.

Meanwhile, the GJM continued its programme of hunger strikes and blockade of national highways near Siliguri.